DARKTHRONE Soulside Journey Vinyl LP (1991)

Before the corpse paint, before A Blaze in the Northern Sky rewrote the rulebook, Darkthrone were doing something else entirely. Soulside Journey is the album the black metal faithful sometimes forget to mention, a death metal record of real weight and atmosphere, recorded at Sunlight Studio with Tomas Skogsberg behind the desk.

Released in 1991, this is the sound of a Norwegian band absorbing everything coming out of Sweden and making it their own, all churning riffs, cavernous production, and the kind of cold dread that would eventually consume their entire identity. It's not a footnote. It's the foundation. If you only know Transilvanian Hunger, this will rearrange your understanding of what Fenriz and Nocturno Culto were actually capable of before they decided atmosphere mattered more than technique.

12" vinyl reissue. Full length album. Country of origin: Norway. Genre: black/death metal.

Fans of: Mayhem, Immortal, Dark Funeral, Burzum, Emperor