Yes, the above header is accurate. On January 13th, 1991, Darkthrone‘s debut, Soulside Journey, was released to the world. This means two things: 1. We somehow missed this last week. Thank God I pay attention on rare occasions. And 2. This album has hit the quarter-century mark. Obviously I could go on and on about how that makes us feel old or some shit. But that’s boring and cliched. What is notable, however, is how consistent Darkthrone have been over the past couple of decades in cranking out new music. It has been a… unique ride for them, so it’s worth looking at where it all began.

If you haven’t figured out the role Darkthrone has played in metal history, primarily in the Norwegian black metal scene, you’re probably following the wrong blog. Yes, Fenriz, Nocturno Culto, and company continue to leave their mark on metal through their limitless creativity and willingness to cross new into new genres. But what’s most interesting is that it all started with Soulside Journey, an album that featured a death metal style Darkthrone would not exactly revisit at any point going forward.

Of course, this death metal style can be traced back to their previous project — a straightforward death metal project called Black Death. But it’s no less interesting that the style that landed them their first studio album, the album that made them “big”, would not really be seen again. No, instead the following years would bring us the likes of A Blaze In The Northern Sky and Under A Funeral Moon. Norwegian black metal classics, through and through. But we’re here to talk about Soulside Journey. So let’s refocus a bit.

When I say that Soulside Journey is a death metal record, I mean that it is a significant death metal record. Perhaps the production was less than ideal, causing us to lose out on some of the chaotic, beastly riffage and spastic percussion, but the concepts put to work here are the same as those that made the classic Scandinavian death albums from a few years later become legends. And right from the beginning of “Cromlech” you hear lead playing and time signatures that line up with the inception days of the likes of In Flames and even Dark Tranquillity. And it’s just over 40 minutes of this death metal brilliance. It kicks off aggressively and doesn’t ever let up. Sure there are moments that feature more melody through drawn out leads and keyboard elements, on “Accumulation of Generalization”, for example, but largely this album is punishing from start to finish. All in all, it’s an album worth spending time with because of how significant is was to both death metal and Darkthrone. And because it’s good. Let’s not forget that.

Who knew that the sound that allowed Darkthrone to emerge would be the same one that they virtually abandoned immediately after? Whatever. That’s why we love them. Anyway, take a listen below and join me celebrating this record’s 25th birthday.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– Corey