True Kings Of Norway - Various Artists > Reviews > Essential

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Some of the most important Black Metal Music to emerge from Norway .
Disadvantages:	none .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This really is an essential purchase for any Black Metal fan with an interest in the history of the genre and the bands that dominate it today. Rather than a compilation featuring current bands' output with a view to attracting more listeners, this is a compilation that documents the Norwegian Black Metal scene in the early 1990s. Contained on the CD are now legendary the demos from the following bands: Emperor, Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, Ancient and Arcturus.

The inlay sheet is excellent, it contains details (including Cover Art) of each band's demo, plus photographs of each of the bands. On the other side of the sheet there is large annotated "family tree" showing the very complex relationships of bands and their members throughout the whole Norwegian scene from the early days up until now. It really does make interesting reading. Spikefarm have excelled themselves with this release by releasing a compilation of limited commercial appeal in order to resurrect the lost demos of these important bands.

·Emperor: As the Shadows Rise:

1. The Ancient Queen
2. Witches Sabbath
3. Lord of the storms (Evil Necro Voice from Hell remix)

Emperor’s take on Black Metal was originally called “Witching Metal” before they hooked up with Mayhem’s Euronymous and initiated the infamous “Inner Circle”. The production values on this recording here are the same as those on the “Emperor” demo; raw but good enough to capture all the instruments and vocals well. The low-fi production adds a great deal of atmosphere to the recording (high budget production values can ruin this type of music believe it or not!)

Emperor’s music has always been at the forefront of the genre, the rasping guitars and ‘dreamy’ keyboards take it in turns to take the lead with the other supporting the atmosphere. The drums are excellent, Faust had a unique style, utilising hi-hats and cymbals a lot more instead of just playing fast blast beats etc. This band excel on all levels, compositionally they are great, their songs don’t all sound the same, there are frequent time changes and a lot of imagination in their use of instruments.

·Immortal 7" EP '92:

4. Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism
5. Unholy Forces of Evil
6. The Cold Winds Of Funeral Frost

Immortal too have their own brand of Black Metal, namely “Holocaust Metal”, quite an apt title considering their music is very much more straightforward and brutal than Emperor’s. Immortal started out here playing a very stripped down and primitive form of metal (reminiscent of 80s thrash gods Celtic Frost). Famed for their rather fanciful song titles (“Tragedies Blows At Horizon” from their amazing “At the Heart Of Winter” album is a good one!), Immortal went on to record some classic albums and play some incredibly fast and brutal Black Metal (so fast that their guitarist Demonaz had to quit playing because of tendonitis in his wrists!).

·Dimmu Borgir: Inn I Evighetens Mørke:

7. Inn I Evighetens Mørke (Part 1)
8. Inn I Evighetens Mørke (Part 2)
9. Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde

I suppose listening to this demo proves that Dimmu Borgir never really ‘sold out’ because they are still basically playing the same stuff now as they did here (but to a greater level of musicianship). The first track of their demo is basically an atmospheric intro, complete with howling winds, piano and acoustic guitars, I must say it works pretty well. Track 2 leads directly on from the intro, into a solid Black Metal song with distorted guitars, gothic keyboards and throat-destroying vocals. The third track is very good, it conjures up quite a morbid atmosphere and has some pretty good riffs and soundscapes created with the guitar and keyboard combination. This track has been re-recorded a couple of times, once on their album “For All Tid” and again for the e.p. “Godless Savage Garden”.

·Ancient: Det Glemte Riket:

10. Det Glemte Riket
11. Huldradans

Ancient always seems to me to be unfairly overlooked or underrated, often accused of sounding ‘generic’ or uninspired. I don’t think this is true at all, especially considering they are one of the pioneering bands of this style. Musically speaking the band eschews brutality, instead adopting a more melodic approach to their art. The guitars are very fuzzy, almost to the point of losing their ‘bite’, the bass guitar more than makes up for this, and the result is an interesting sound - still grim sounding but strangely pleasant to the ear. Ancient’s riffs are quite groovy, they have a kind of ‘bounce’ about them which is difficult to describe but over the top are the screeches and growls of Grimm (who also plays drums) which bring the needed brutality into the music.

·Arcturus: My Angel:

12. My Angel
13. Morax

Arcturus are a very enigmatic band, they have been around a lot longer than most people realise (this demo was released in 1991). The band take a more Avant Garde approach to the music than most, the two tracks presented here are very different to what the other bands have to offer. Instead of raging drums and crunching ‘chainsaw’ guitars, the songs are underpinned by strange vocal effects which sound like a lot of people being tortured very slowly (you really need to hear it to understand what I mean). Perhaps even weirder are the three words used in the first track – “I love you”. If you could pick a phrase which would be unlikely to appear in a Black Metal demo that would be it! But when you think about it, the emotion known to you humans as ‘love’ inspires more dark moods and infinitely more depression and conflict than any other. Morax is even weirder, the track is long but there is only a small amount of singing, the rest is made up of samples and a carnival-esque keyboard line. Considering the off kilter approach Arcturus take their music is very effective.

All I can say is that if you are a fan of Black Metal you must own this, it really gives an insight into the scene’s underground and the history of the most well respected bands in the genre. Black Metal was always supposed to be about the atmosphere and moods created by the music rather than ‘sonic violence’, this compilation presents five different approaches which all have one thing in common, the atmosphere of the music.

Other Information:

·Running Time: 58:15
·Label: Spikefarm Records
·Catalogue Code: Naula 006