Metal Reviews

Among black metal's second wave very few bands are held in as high regard as Darkthrone and Burzum. Both played major roles in establishing the scene's raw, minimalist approach to music with such standards as In the Shadow of the Horns and Det Som En Gang Var and both have played scant if any live shows throughout their collective history. Although the pair have released some odd if downright perplexing albums since their grim heydays, the bands' first four proper black metal records remain genre classics. (Note-I'm excluding Darkthrone's death metal debut Soulside Journey) But who wins this battle in the north?

Good question. While I definitely prefer A Blaze... to Burzum's self-titled, my preference swings towards Burzum after that, so I'll go with the latter.

I'm more of a Darkthrone kind of guy.

Darkthrone by a slim margin imo Darkthrone inspired tons of bands while Burzum influenced probably just as many.

There is no point really to do a point by point comparison, all of their early works are on the same tier and are just as essential to any black metal library as each other.

Just listened to a Burzum record for the first time in a while and I was really into it.

music is so awesome.

Really, really tough question. Would ultimately have to agree with NFH, since Hvis and Filosofem are so classic. Nickleback's right that it's all essential stuff though.

Burzum wins this battle in my opinion. Varg does more with less in his music than a legion of death metal's most talented groups. Well placed synth chords married to Vikernes' signature tremelo riffs have produced some of metal's most sweeping epics. While I wholeheartedly prefer Ted's vocals to Varg's, especially on Burzum's early albums, the atmosphere created on records like Until the Light Takes Us (I never spell it right in Norwegian) and Filosofem just put Burzum on a whole other level. Truly simplicity made majestic. That being said, I would rather get drunk and jam to some thrash with Fenriz than listen to Vikernes drone on about Neanderthal DNA and the evils of those pesky Jews any day.

Yes, one basically takes both bands or leaves both bands, I'm not really sure how someone could love the music of one of these and ignore/despise the music of the other.

The same way some people prefer Maiden over Priest or vice versa, although I wouldn't go to the extreme like/dislike that you mentioned. While the dual impact of Darkthrone and Burzum is certainly evident among most metal fans/critics, reasons for personal preference make for interesting debates.

That is...debatable!

I'm going with Emperor. Oh, wait, I meant Burzum, I guess. Darkthrone might have the two better albums, but overall Burzum's four albums take my vote. Neither band do I listen to much these days.

Yep, would rather listen to Emperor (or Ulver) than these bands on any given day, as much as I respect them.

Would listen to Emperor any given day over these two.

Meh. Depends on what my mood is that day. Since we're talking about Emperor, I have to say that Ihsahn and Samoth do not get enough recognition as a great guitar tandem. One of the best in the 90's IMO.

Yeah, really depends on mood, not sure I'd pick (say) Anthems over Filosofem. Think early Enslaved deserves a shout too if we're going to open it up.

Might not pick Anthems, but certainly would pick Nightside or Bergtatt.

Yeah, early Enslaved is underrated, Vikingligr Veldi was a heck of a debut.

I've played Anthems so many times and never grown tiresome of it. It's the case with all Emperor releases. As for Darkthrone, I have never been a huge fan of primitive BM. However, I can definitely appreciate their breadth of influence and the darkness they brought with their brand of BM.

Anthems and In the Nightside Eclipse are definitely two of the best BM releases of all time.

Darkthrone, though only by a slim margin.

On ATTWAD... I honestly never got what all the fuss was, and apparently still is.
Couple of outstanding tracks (Acclamation Of Bonds, The Wanderer, The Loss And Curse Of Reverence, With Strength I Burn), the rest of the album is a confused mish-mash of what appears to be an identity crisis of some sort. Always thought their next album was far superior, what Anthems was trying to be actually.

I love the entire album...classic stuff!