Customer Reviews

Dark Medieval Times

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought "Nemesis Divina" first and after a few listens it began to grow on me like some rare Scandinavian lichen used to promote euphoria. Next, I purchased "The Shadowthrone" with equal results. I then began a sojourn through the tangled forest that is Amazon.com and came across a review that stated something to the effect that there are only 3 Satyricon albums worth owning: the 2 aforementioned, and "Dark Medieval Times." It took some time to get it, being an import (over 2 months waiting...), but I was instantly pleased with the atmosphere of the album. I felt transported to 1349, a dark age filled with ominous clouds, folk music soaring on the wind. This is a Black Metal gem that I hope all fans of the genre make an effort to obtain. Thank you for reading my humble review.

This is not your average BM release. This is a band who, on their first three albums knew how to create some pretty atmospheric and dark melodies. The production is raw, but not cheap and fits in perfectly with the raw nature of the music. This is an album I can listen to without skipping any tracks. Every cut is solid and delivers a substantial punch, especially "Walk the path of sorrow", "Dark medieval times", "Min Hyllest til Vinterland", and "Into the mighty forest". I especially enjoy the Norwegian folk music influence that is evident on track 4. Anyone who likes mature Black metal that doesn't fall into this silly category of bands trying to "out-underground" each other should find this appealing.

Satyricon in 1993 released their first album, and it stands just behind their second, "The Shadowthrone" as being their best album. "Dark Medieval Times" is supposed to be dedicated to olden times, from the Viking Age to the Middle Ages, and has a suitably folk and olden feel to it. Very often Satyr will break down the black metal parts into acoustic folk sections, and other times the black metal parts will fade out to flutes and other folk instruments. The total feel is rough and dark and very medieval, so the band did their job.

The drums are pretty tribal, with tom hits which remind me of Joy Division circa-Closer, though with more of a dark and ferocious pagan feel, like Graveland. Also like Graveland, Satyricon use keyboards to an interesitng effect, meaning they use keyboards to bring folk melodies and pagan atmosphere to the music, making as great of a use of keyboards in Black Metal as Emperor on "in The nightside Eclipse".

The sound is a little rough, not as warm and clear as Shadowthrone, but with a more Darkthrone like production ethic. Meaning very heavily transitor distortion on the guitar and a strange echo sound, which is like Under a Funeral Moon by Darkthrone and also Hammerheart by Bathory.

The cover is pretty cool, reminding me of the artwork that was done for the Warhammer figurine board game. It shows a warrior/king in front of a castle, and perfectly displays the concept behind the record.

I have to suggest this album highly to any fan of early black metal, in particular Burzum, Graveland and very early Emperor and even Darkthrone (spiritual blood brothers to Satyricon). Buy this! (maybe not at amazon.com though I got the cd for 12 dollars at www.theendrecords.com)

I believe that Satyricon's first three albums (from this to "Nemesis Divina") were a story about how he rose from a gothic warrior into a hellborn king who conquered the world. "Dark Medieval Times" is the first chapter in the tale, where he leads the warriors of Satyricon (beginning with the awesome, "Walk The Path Of Sorrow") on a quest to conquer the lands and gain control of the dark castle in the mighty forest (in the closer, "Taakeslottet").

This album, for a debut, is quite awesome for such a starting point. The eerie ambient winds in the intro of "Walk The Path Of Sorrow" before it kicks into a fast drive proves you that. It just gets better from there. Almost every track has an ambient feel to it (especially "Min Hyllest til Vinterland"), which helps you enter the snowly landscapes which Satyr and the warriors of Satyricon are riding their horses across in the music created here.

Although this is the band's least-technical album, it's also their most mellow and beautiful. The guitar highlights lie in the acustic bits, which are beautiful and a real pleasure to the ears (especially on "Dark Medieval Times", "Min Hyllest til Vinterland", and "Into The Mighty Forest"). The distorted bits are good, too. Satyr's vocals are harsh and raspy, as usual in all his albums. Frost's drumming is amazing, as usual (check out his marching percussion near the end of "Taakeslottet"), although it's kind of hard to keep track of the beat on the faster parts in this work. Still, you get over it.

The production isn't bad, but it isn't the best ever, either. The bass support in the sound is here, even though it's not always audible. The guitar is also a bit staticky and rough. This is also Satyricon's most repetitive album, which makes it a bit tough for new fans of the band to get into. But give it time. You'll be glad you did.

The instrument usage is great, especially with the melodic keyboards and flute.

Not much else to say except that this, like all Satyricon albums, is a masterful, narrative work, and a must for any BM fan.

For someone who has been a Satyricon fan for ages, and owns all of Satyricon albums, I still believe Dark Medieval Times is their best. In this debut as first full length album Satyricon displays the obvious medieval/viking influences, as Satyr himself said, of which he was a big fan at the time. The carefuly crafted melodies are really catchy, the beautiful riffing and instrumentals grab you by the throat. This is traditional old school black metal blended with viking lyrics and elegant song compositions make this album stand out of the crowd of Norwegian black metal. And to think Satyr/Frost were still teenagers! This is a black metal masterpiece, no matter which way you look at it. An absolutely recommended CD, you buy it, won't regret it.

Even though this has worse(but not bad) production than Satyricon's others, and it is much more primitive, it is still a GREAT album. As the title implies, this is Medieval-inspired music with flutes, acoustic guitars, and the whole bit. There is more bass in this album than in later releases, giving it the "true" black metal atmosphere in some places. The title track is the real highlight of the album (although all of the other songs are great). It has flutes backed by blizzard winds, raging guitars, and Satyr's violent rasp. BUY THIS CD OR DIE!!!

You're about to take a ride of 45 minutes to the Medieval Epoch and feel the brilliantly created atmosphere of sorrow of these far away times, when children of North Nature, united with the forest and lakes, were violently, abruptly christianised. You can almost feel the souls screaming through the whole ride, which is that album...
Naturally, the album is very good. Stylically this is pure black metal, old-schooled (i.e., not based on image or some sh¤t like that, like some of mercenary "gothic"-looking heavy metal popular bands, but first of all based on a true SPIRIT), primitive as it may seem for a first time, but extremely beautiful in its Northern Atmosphere. Don't be mistaken, REAL black-metal is NOT all "screams and blast-beats"; listen to this album and you will understand why. Heavy riffs are going here perfectly well with medieval pipes and acoustic guitars.

This is really unique album. May I say the most majestic of them all. Not a lot of bands can come up with such a catchy songs here, dont think so, but there few out there, just got to get deeper. Anyway this would ranked in top 5 by black metal maniacs. Oh yea and avoid later material by Satyricon at all cost. hehe trust me.

This is the darkest album ever made in black metal. Is cold, raw, and so TRUE black metal that even in this reduced scene is really underground. This album will transport you inmediately to those ancient dark medieval times, into those pagan rituals and heroism stories that took place in the northern lands once.

This is by far the best album of satyricon (maybe along with the shadowthrone). You can read anywhere that their masterpiece is nemesis divina, but that album is pop if you compare it with this music from hell; is true, in nemesis divina you can found "mother north", the anthem of norwegian black metal, but as I am not nordic, even that song doesn`t touch me so much.

If you are looking for a REAL dark album, this is a MUST, along with Mayhem-"Live in Leipzig" (the only one with the TRUE members, much better even than "the misteriis...", Burzum-"Hvis Lysset Tar Oss", "Burzum/Aske" and "Hlidskjalf", Emperor-"In The Nightside Eclipse" and "Anthems For The Welkin Dusk", Bloodthorn-"In The Shadow Of The Black Wings", Immortal-"Damned In Black" and Enthroned-"Prophecies Of Pagan Fire"

and of course, Satyricon-"The Shadowthrone"

For somebody who thought that Rebel Extravaganza was bad (still do) and whose introduction to black metal was Cradle Of Filth (stop laughing, they're good!) I was blown away by this album. Hearing the bad comments about Rebel Extravaganza compared to other Satyricon albums I thought that perhaps I should give Satyr and Frost another chance. And am I glad I did!

This album isn't just a wall of extreme noise. Make no mistake, this is heavy, fast, and unlike the good but certainly more mainstream bands such as Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth it is much more raw. There's loads of cool atmospheric moments - flutes and acoustic guitars accompany Frost's manic double kicking and Satyr's evil tougne. This is epic, atmospheric, very fast and heavy but also experimental.

The only things I dislike about the album are that the production is bad and it is a bit repetitive. The keyboards (when they're used) and the bass are a bit lost in the mix, and the guitars often sound a little fuzzy. With better production this would have been much more atmospheric. Plus, Satyr tends to repeat the same riff over and over for 2 minutes - no building on it, no vocals, no variation of the relatively simple riff. It tends to get you a bit annoyed after you've heard it a couple of times.

However, if you want something a little less user friendly than most black-metal bands, but don't like Rebel Extravaganza with it's monotonous, boring (read my review for my full opinion), "lets see how fast we can play" sound then this is highly recommended. Don't pass this band off as naff before you've heard this album.