Customer Reviews

Plaguewielder

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

 

 

How can there be no reviews on this! If you liked Ravishing grimness or Panzerfaust, you'll come to worship this like all Darkthrone. If anything, the entire price of the CD is worth the final track: Wreak. Like the classic, Quintessence, off Panzerfaust, this is one hell of a massive jam that will pound you into another realm when you have it cranked up. Defintely one of the Darkthrone releases that deserves a lot more praise. If you are new to Darkthrone, or like their later sound more than the early stuff, you better grab this then. Easy 5 stars from one of the Gods of Black Metal.

Format: Full-length cd, 6 songs 42.52 minutes
Style: Raw Black Metal
Rating: 93/100
Label: Moonfog
Artist Website: ...
Similar Artists: Mayhem, Urgehal, Hellhammer, Bathory
Background: Darkthrone began as a death metal band in the early 90s and went on to become one of the most influential black metal bands ever. They epitomized the raw Norse black metal sound and are responsible for some of the most acclaimed releases ever (A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Transilvanian Hunger, Under a Funeral Moon, Panzerfaust). Their previous album, Ravishing Grimness, saw the band combine some of the aggression of their older music with better production, making for one of the best releases of 1999. As has been the case for the last few recordings, Darkthrone consists of Nocturno Culto on vocals, guitars and bass and Fenriz on drums. Additional vocals on the track "Command" are provided by Apollyon (Cadaver Inc) and Sverre Daehli (Aura Noir).
Packaging: The digipack cd that I purchased is well done. It includes all of the lyrics in English, and final incorporates some color in the artwork. The lyrics are very easy to read and the packaging overall is very basic, but this is what you would expect from a Darkthrone cd.
Production: "Plaguewielder" was recorded at StudioStudio studios and was engineered by Dag Stokke. All tracks are produced and written by Darkthrone. The production here is a much more modern than Darkthrone's older classic pieces but the music still remains primitive. The recording has a kind of sterile, icy sound to it, reminding me a little bit of Satyricon's Rebel Extravagana and most of the other releases coming out of Moonfog recently. At the same time it is not nearly as harsh and mechanical sounding as some of these releases, having an almost organic feel to it. You can hear all aspects of the music very well with not one instrument or vocal track drowning out any of the others. I think that the production on this recording is very appropriate and fits well within the Darkthrone aesthetic.
The Music: Darkthrone has developed their sound inside the boundaries of what we know and expect as Darkthrone. This recording has variation in a lot of areas; the tempo of the music (both fast and midpaced), the guitar-style (thrashy at times) and the song structure (longer songs). It is raw and catchy, minimalistic and technical. Consequently, Plaguewielder is a very mature recording; you can tell that this is their tenth release and that they are the elder statesmen of the scene. As is typical with Darkthrone, the lo-fi guitars are the main instrument. The vocals are typical black metal shrieks and are done very well. On this release, the drumming is well timed, making for some real head-banging moments. The bass plods along to the music and can actually be heard quite well. Overall this music delivers what you want in a Darkthrone record. They continue to build on a strong tradition of great black metal releases.
Recommendation: Highly recommended for those who like well played midpaced black metal. If you liked "Ravishing Grimness" you should enjoy this one, as it is not that far removed.

Norse grim rippers are back with another devastating piece of swirling harshness & kult riffage! Indeed I was anticipating this album for a while and it is no more no less THE panzer Darkthrone we are all accustomed to hear, hail & honour! Again the listener is transported to a Void filled with hatred, utter disgust and most importantly the fuzzing garage sonority that launched Black Metal to the genre we all know today. Animalistic but definitely not awkward or clumsy the song-structures are cyclic, energetic and in many times carried by the retro-attack of Fenriz pounding drumming and Nocturno Culto genius riffs.
"Plaguewielder" is also a necessary return to previous ideas and in many ways a step back to construct what was left undone or completely not experimented before. An EVILution on the same pace as "Ravishing Grimness" but that I perceive as a constant return to the uglier origins to bring back the repressed & dirty elements of the past in order to establish the path to a darkened continuation. A move of pure dementia, but one clearly understands that! This is why every album is/has it's own reference point, exhibiting the varied faces of rawness but always belonging to the same necrotic womb.
If one were to explain Darkthrone position within the scene any further it probably wouldn't make any sense weren't they such an influential basis standing aside any trends and always a relief to the ears of the listeners, because the more do you get from them the more do you want, and one never suffers from disillusion by what this due delivers!
Other significant happenings are Fenriz lyrics being more interiorised by N. Culto and consequently better performed, the feelings sound this time more transparent and it makes the sore throat less boring and monochord. The studio work and the overall production does not really deserve too much attention here because we all know very well how Darkthrone is intended to sound, however this album is slightly more polished and as far as I'm concerned no problem or drastic change whatsoever.
The Goat gains it's complete Beast-shape when we're reaching for the end of the album. The opening riff of the second part of ""Wreak" (the last track) leaves my spine shivering with violence, it's totally grim & cold, and 100% of what Norwegian Black Metal is all about! Musical sin is again unleashed and with it a proclamation that Black Metal is not dead and will never be as long as Darkthrone exists!

Abyss Magazine @ Nuno M. [CR]

Plaguewielder, another faultless release from the Norwegian lords of cold, bitter darkness. One would think that after so many years they would have lost their edge... no way, not in the slightest. If anything, they have only become better and better.

Hateful lyrics well complemented by Nocturno's vocals, which continue on the path of rasping, growling grimness just as intense as ever.

Plaguewielder seems to follow the path of Ravishing Grimness exuding astonishingly good sound quality. Still undeniably black metal this release also seems to walk along the edge of thrash in some places, which I think adds to brooding angst that radiates from their songs. Still holding true to the unique timing and simple song structure that Darkthrone is famous for this album falls nothing short from impressive.

So pure, so cold, so Darkthrone.

DarkThrone is a lot like Bolt Thrower in a way. Different type of metal yes, but they never truly stray from their own beaten path. If you have one DarkThrone or Bolt Thrower album then you have them all. But they NEVER dissapoint. Although Soulside Journey and the almighty Transilvanian Hunger are my personal faves, every other album is classics. Plague is no exception, if you love Black Metal then do not pass this or any other DarkThrone album up. Hail!

This is an excellent black metal cd. The best i have heard that has came out this year. No band can come close to the coldness and BRILLANT lyrics. hail darkthrone!

This isn't their greatest work, but N. Culto's voice seems to have gotten more deep and dark vs. previous work. Fenriz stays with his insane Satanic poetry making this album a step better than Ravishing Grimness.

This is my second Darkthrone CD that I own, the first one I bought was "Under a Funeral Moon". In comparison to "Under a Funeral Moon" it is very obvious that Darkthrone has progressed as a band since their earlier years. While many black metal elitists would argue that Darkthrone's old, repetitive, primitive, and massively underproduced sound is what made them great, anybody who truly appreciates the music has to admit that this album is great. The production is still not that great, but the music is far more intricate. The songs on this album are about 8 minutes each, and they are all amazing. It is true that you don't get the same totally evil, grim sound that you get from old Darkthrone on this CD, but this album has their older CDs beat in musicianship by far. If you are a true fan of black metal you should still enjoy this even if it isn't quite the same grim black metal sound that they started with.

Dark Throne are the mighty Norwegian legends of Black Metal. They have produced some of the coldest Black Metal known to man. So how does Plague Wielder compare to previous efforts? To sum it up, imagine Ravishing Grimness with a more polished sound. Also, Fenriz's drumming is more technical on this release. From the opening riff of Weakling Avenger to the closing notes of Wreak (in my opinion, the best song of Plague Wielder), Dark Throne have remained true to their trademark sound and there are no unwelcome surprises. My only complaint is of the album's artwork. It's a bit too colorful for Dark Throne.

I am a writer for a Swedish fanzine/magazine, so I got the promo of this CD before it was available in the shops. That means that I've had about six weeks to listen to it. The first couple of times I listened to the album, I liked it a lot, but the more I listen to it now the more I find small details that I want to change.

Soundwise the guitars remind me of Satyricon at times (if you disagree, that's OK. So did Darkthrone drummer Fenriz when I talked to him...); the drumming is perhaps a bit more technical than usual - but the songs are not as good as I had hoped. I had hoped for a return to the more chaotic, icy cold style of black metal that Darkthrone pioneered back in the days. It's a good album, but Darkthrone could do it much better than this. A slight disappointment.