The ever-present stalwarts of extreme metal Norway’s Darkthrone have re-released their ‘’Lost “second album Goatlord.
The right time for some context. Goatlord is the unreleased second album from Darkthrone that was intended as the follow-up to the stunning debut of ‘’Soulside Journey’’ when the band was a four-piece. It was scrapped in 1990-91 when their death metal style was dropped for the cold Black metal aesthetic for which they are most recognized. Debuting as the third disc on the Frostland Tapes ltd release (1996), it has then since been released as a standalone with vocals as an album release for the sake of it.
Is this the latest version? Featuring the gorgeous ‘’Painted art” work of Zbigniew M. Bielak, which links it to Soulside Journey.
It ditches the vocals (including the terrible female impersonations- thanks, Satan) and is a master of the original instrumental demo tape recordings.
You can hear some of the riffs that made their way onto Á Blaze in the Northern sky ‘’ but the overwhelming metal component of the recording links it to the band’s later output of recent years.
So, is it any good? Being a big fan of pure music without studio interference and the raw passion before songs become polished and over worked it works as the definitive version of the band’s history trimmed of all the added excess over the years. It’s raw and furious, at times a little uneven, but well, it’s supposed to be it is a demo recording, after all. The progression (regression?) of Á Blaze in the Northern Sky ‘’ is the ultimate example of the evolution of a song and a mindset as things and people ultimately change.
It works as the bridge between technical death metal and the cold black fury inspired by Celtic Frost and the environment around them. Its melodic and technical yet also primal in its riffing and rhythms and makes sense as a release now where the band is recognized for being a death doom celebration of all things metal and it puts their history into the proper context.
Is it essential? For fans of the band and those fondest of their death metal style, then the ultimate third and definitive version Goatlord is a must have and highlights the talents of the band during their death/doom metal years, vital and visceral in its proto form and pure Darkthrone.
Darkthrone: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: PEACEVILLE
Category: Album
Country: Norway
Reviewed by Sparky
