DARKTHRONE: "Sardonic Wrath"        darkthrone            moonfog

THIS ALBUM IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF QUORTON (R.I.P.)   

produced by Darkthrone - recorded and mixed by Lars Klokkerhaug             

review by dalia "gryphon_spirit" di giacomo____   

Sardonic Wrath is cruelty and wrath. This is to say cruel wrath. Nevertheless Sardonic Wrath is toning up and much agreeable.  It is BM in our of its best expressions, melting the Norwegian characteristics of Old school with that attitude to fire so developed in the rest of the continent too. Violent attacks alternate with pounding and menacing rhythm as in the case of Information Wants To Be Syndicated while Sjakk Matt Jesu Krist goes into a spin like  on outstanding rock and rock’n roll loops with a certain punk-y sense of freedom and rebellion. Fact is that the impact is immediate, the result immediate, the conquer immediate. Nocturno Culto and Fenriz don’t need any presentation and well know their job. True "icons" as they are, they know how to propose  a great piece of violence dressed in enjoyable pleasure. And here we begin to see that Sardonic Wrath is a bit of the theory of the opposites that meet, made BM music. Changes of pace are  so linear but yet involving, Darkthrone slow down even to doom tones at the end of Straightening Sharks In Heaven and offer a suffocating bone breaker,  leaden, pounding  mid tempo with Alle gegen Alle or they  speed up unstoppable.  You are in the middle of a wave- pulsing effect of contractions that  push you high or take you down to the ground. The instrumental technique, that only apparently seems so raw and not refined by alchemies of any nature, on the contrary is pure mastering of both drums and strings, cause every note is limpid , even when  distorted. It seems like you physically see the strings vibrate and  the drums pulse higher or reverberate the same patterns towards more deep and low sonorities. Up and down, shifting chords and scales, between high heated sounds and  impending ones, Darkthrone  create an ambience set on fire and brilliant hooklines, everything with extreme precision, though, after all, the structure of each track don’t base on  so elaborate patterns. But solid and recurrent schemes, which involve  influences of Death and  Rockn’heavy and punk-y aggression., like in the superfast Hate is the Law, simply become "opus" , just with few instruments and clever ideas. The technique is the master but it serves the good success of the songs. And Sardonic Wrath flys high till the last note. It is closed by Rawness obsolete, which is a very pronounced mid tempo with doomy and gloomy  gravity , a gravity enchained in ferocious guitars and bass. Vocals are such majestic brachial fiery screaming's, affable though scary.   The religious anti/religious constancy  around which  lyrics revolve is impressive. The cover art by the Italian  Lorenzo Mariani adds a touch of classicism and refined good taste à la Gustave Doré, expressing well the "merciful"  fury of the  angels. 

Finally, Sardonic Wrath is lively,  full of vitality, though dark, impending and raw at the same time. It is rich though  not intricate , it is catchy though superior. Sardonic Wrath , for  this and all the considerations seen before,  is therefore the pure amalgam of basilar factors that, put together  lead to  their opposites indeed. Outstanding

rating:   9.8/10

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