Soulside Journey [Enhanced]

Soulside Journey [Enhanced]

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
UK reissue of the Scandinavian dark metal act's 1990 album. 11 tracks including, 'Neptune Towers' & 'The Watchtower'.

Tracks:

Cromlech
Sunrise Over Locus Mortis
Soulside Journey
Accumulation of Generalization
Neptune Towers
Sempiternal Sepulchrality
Grave With a View
Iconoclasm Sweeps Cappadocia
Nor the Silent Whispers
Watchtower
Eon

Album Description

2003 reissue of the Scandinavian dark metal act's 1990 album features 11 tracks plus an exclusive multimedia enhanced interview with the band (Chapter 1), packaged in a digipak. Peaceville.

Customer Reviews:

Classick metal!.......2005-11-05

Quite frankly I think that this album stands as a pinnacle of creative songwriting among the early Scandinavian death and black metal bands, which is saying alot. There is so much going on in each song but you could never call it confusing, the tunes just grow organically as if you can see the band hashing em out at an all night jam session righ before your eyes. Darkthrone were all about making supremely atmospheric music that is above all memorable and full of character. I will say that Soulside Journey, Goatlord, to some extent BITNS are a bit of a clusterf*%k compositionally but that is part of their considerable charm. Soulside Journey is a classick of complex death metal.

Old School.......2005-05-19

Anyone who says darkthrone are amazingly talented is lying.Anyone who believes them is an idiot.No dakthrone are not amazingly talented they make god awful noise and scream blasphemy.And thats the way it should be.Remember back in the early 90s before 14 year old kids in Lamb of God shirts went to slipknot shows and called themselves metal?If you do you would already own this,If you dont why are you wanting a darkthrone Cd?.This is not so much the Black metal they are nowadays reknowned for this is somewhere in between black/Death and doom metal.Its nothing special its your basic mid tempo metal with the odd change and some twisted lyrics.I think its more for those who want a piece of black metal history than those who want some brutal black metal.More of a collectors album i say. (opeth satanic? WTF?)

Overrated.......2004-09-26

I've heard a lot of jibberish about Darkthrone being this amazingly talented black metal band. No, they're just some goons who wear funny makeup and play mediocre riffs and shout out infantile punk lyrics. To be fair, they don't suck, but they're nowhere on the level of Burzum. Pagan metal will always be better than satanic metal, because heathens have nothing to prove as far as image goes. The only good satanic bands there were (Opeth not included) are Emperor and Ulver. Darkthrone is just trying to scare Judeo-Christians with their 'brootal' BM. It's pretty sad when a band spends more time painting their face for their album's photo shoot than they do composing the songs. Save your money and buy music from a band that's not suffering from an incurable case of (...)envy.

Underrated Death Metal Classic..........2004-07-11

I just don't see why this album isn't liked all that much. I think it's one of the better Death Metal albums ever released. This was also my first Death Metal album.

The level of musicianship on this album is amazing, especially compared to Darkthrone's later releases, which were very primitive and minimalistic in songwriting (not a bad thing; I also love their later stuff as well). This album shows a lot of promise, and I've been wondering for awhile how Darkthrone would be today if they'd stayed in the Death Metal path. This reminds me of some other bands, like Entombed or Slipknot for example, who played Death Metal in the beginning (check Entombed's Left Hand Path and Clandestine, and Slipknot's Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.), but have changed their style around a bit (Entombed adding Rock influences, Slipknot becoming Nu Metal).

Every song here is great, but if I had to pick a favorite, it'd probably be Sempiternal Sepulchrality. Other good songs include every song here. In fact, I'm FAR from being a big fan of instrumentals (on Metallica's first four albums, the only instrumental I can enjoy is Anesthesia - Pulling Teeth from Kill 'Em All), but the two instrumentals present here (Track 4, Accumulation of Generalization, and track 11, Eon) are great songs, which aren't pretentious and dragged-out, and they actually enhance the mood of the album as a whole.

Every song here except for the instrumental tracks has at least one guitar solo. Nocturno Culto's solos are some of the best I've ever heard. I honestly can't tell who's singing on this album though. No one in the lineup is listed as a singer, but Fenriz is listed as lyricist. In the interviews on this digipak version, from what I remember, neither Fenriz nor Nocturno Culto say who sings on this album. Although I have a feeling it's Fenriz, because I know he sings on Darkthrone's early demoes, yet the vocals here sound different. Oh well.

Overall, like the title of this review says, this is a true Death Metal classic. Few other Death Metal albums I've heard measure up to this (one album that is just as good, if not better, is Nile's Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka). The music is very technical, yet very atmospheric (the keyboards in certain parts remind me of a combo of Morbid Angel's Altars of Madness and Nocturnus' Ethereal Tomb), and envokes unique moods just like Under A Funeral Moon or Transilvanian Hunger. If you find this in a store near you, or on Ebay or whatever, I highly reccomend this album.

Soulside Journey
Average customer rating:

The Beginning for Darkthrone

The only Dark Metal CD

Eons ago...

best dark throne release

The only legitimate 'dark metal' release

Soulside Journey
Darkthrone
Manufacturer: Peaceville UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Norway | Scandinavia | Europe | International | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Death Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Need to Control

ASIN: B00005IA74
Release Date: 2001-07-17

Tracks:

Cromlech
Sunrise Over Locus Mortis
Soulside Journey
Accumulation Of Generalization
Neptune Towers
Sempiternal Sepulchrality
Grave With A View
Iconoclasm Sweeps Cappadocia
Nor The Silent Whispers
The Watchtower
Eon

Album Description

UK reissue of the Scandinavian dark metal act's 1990 album. 11 tracks including, 'Neptune Towers' & 'The Watchtower'.

Customer Reviews:

The Beginning for Darkthrone.......2004-01-27

This is Darkthrones first release and is not black metal... its more death/grunge. Overall very good album no where near as dark as their later releases but still a good CD and definetly worth buying if you enjoy Burzum they sound a bit like em. very raw and energetic very low end production quality gives this album a very gritty sound which IMO gives a band a better feel.

The only Dark Metal CD.......2003-11-26

Dark Metal isn't a very popular genre cuz bands that play it usually end up going black metal. Lyrical content is stupid, but these guys can play. Goodness satan worship is becoming so trendy in the black metal/dark metal genres. Darkthrone just does it for show. Besides satan is stupid, and if he's better than God, then how come he can't take the throne?

Eons ago..........2003-08-28

So, this is Darkthrone's Death Metal album, huh? Well, it confused... me the first time I heard it as a spotty young Death Metal fan that knew nothing of the Black Metal Inner Circle. I was expecting Death Metal a la Entombed, Dismember or Unleashed. Did I find it? Nope.

The guitar sound is familiar enough, perhaps because the guitars were co-produced by someone named Uffe? But everything else just didn't sit right in terms of Death Metal. Sure, it was brutal, but the riffing seemed strange. It was fast at times, very fast, but also very simplistic. This was evident right from opener "Cromlech". The vocals were odd too. At a time when Death Metal vocalists were generally involved in vocal limbo dancing ("how low can you go?"), vocalists Zeb Skjellum and Hank Amarillo (where were the pseudo-mythical names then?) sang with a raspier tone than was normal for the time.

Compared to later Darkthrone releases, the production is sparkling, although don't expect Def Leppard style clarity. Darkthrone's famous stripped down raw sound still hadn't developed. There is actually some separation between the instruments. And wonder of wonders, it sounds like the rest of the band actually brought the bass player along to the studio this time round. The drumming is not quite as fast as later releases, but is far heavier. Solos are used sparingly, but to great effect. Also surprising now is that none of the band members were trying to look like badgers or hedgehogs- no corpse paint or spikes anywhere.

While elitist Black Metal fans may dismiss this album as Death Metal in hindsight, many Death Metal fans will have problems getting their head around a lot of this. It is a strange album, not fully fitting either genre. On the Death Metal side, there is the guitar tone, the heaviness and bottom end, and the "normal" names and look of the band. For Black Metal fans, the lyrics are purest bleakness, the riffs are blackened, and the vocals are almost there. Death Metal or Black Metal? I still don't know. It's up to the listener to decide.

best dark throne release.......2003-06-07

i'd say this is the best darkthrone releases. simply because its death metal. a few of my friends are more into black metal but i like death alot more. the guitars are fair, nothing jaw dropping but at least they've got solos. these guys have some great bass lines in their music which you really don't see anymore in any death metal. the drumming in this cd actually sounds like fenriz is trying. its amazing. the only drummer that i'd say is better would be dave suzuki from vital remains.
stand out tracks are cromlech and iconoclasm sweeps capadocia. that songs has the coolest bass line ever. if you like death or grind with element of band like morbid angel, deicide, vital remains, deeds of flesh, or gorguts, then you'd like darkthrones older stuff. by the way, does anyone else hate that fred durst #1 fan?

The only legitimate 'dark metal' release.......2003-01-29

During the early days of Darkthrone, they knew they wanted to not be death metal as it was practiced by others, but had not yet found the religion of Bathory and Celtic Frost that opened their eyes to black metal. Thus "Soulside Journeys" was created in a style of death metal technique and black metal presentation that is best described as "dark metal."

Tempos are generally slower or mid-paced, and riffing uses the abrasive Swedish-Sunlight-Studios-style distortion to mask contemplative melodic riffs which unfold slowly into themes across the course of each song. Mood is regulated with graceful poise in rhythm and cadence, and delivery on the level of the subtle building to the intense, a reversal from how death metal sees things. Vocals are low but rasping, as a precursor of black metal to come, and the avant-prog drumming of wizard Fenriz (Hank Amarillo) is impressive in its own right.

This album rests against the other Darkthrone albums on my shelf but is not of the same ilk, nor the same mood - where blackmetal is perfect for a dark midnight fury, this album is best suited to the calm hours of the night when all things are ambiguous, and mortal fear can be understood in its only meaningful context, isolation.

Soulside Journey
Average customer rating:

ONE OF THE BEST DEATH METAL ALBUMS!!!!FEW COMPETATORS!!

Worth a look if you like heavy music...

Dark Death from Dark Throne

DONT LOOK DOWN ON DARKTHRONE!!!!!

Hmmmm...It's something you have to be in the mood for

Soulside Journey
Darkthrone
Manufacturer: Pidm
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Norway | Scandinavia | Europe | International | Styles | Music
Death Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000006Y11
Release Date: 2000-07-25

Tracks:

Cromlech
Sunrise Over Locus Mortis
Soulside Journey
Accumulation of Generalization
Neptune Towers
Sempiternal Sepulchrality
Grave With a View
Iconoclasm Sweeps Cappadocia
Nor the Silent Whispers
Watchtower
Eon

Album Description

1990 album by the dark metal quartet for the Music For Nations label, limited to just 500 copies! Pressed on a color picture disc, it contains 11 tracks, including 'Neptune Towers' and 'The Watchtower'.

Customer Reviews:

ONE OF THE BEST DEATH METAL ALBUMS!!!!FEW COMPETATORS!!.......2005-09-23

Darkthrone started out as a DEATH METAL band!! and it sucks they didnt stay one.. for at least another album!!

And of course this album has BLACK METAL elements to it as well!! but Fenriz just BLASTED the living HELL out of the drums..I dare say he was the single best DEATH METAL drumer ever(next to Dario from INFESTER that is!)

Each song on here is so different form one another and from any other band that ever exsisted!!

The BASS is there all the time!! and dose its own thing as well!!! ALL HAIL DAG!!!!!!

And the SOLOS are the most breath taking of any band..the only thing is they arent there very often!!!

One of my fave songs is ''GRAVE WITH A VIEW'' those lyrics are some of the most KILLER.. EVER!!!!!!

All in all this is one of those CLASICK albums that if you dont own by now..I FELL PITY FOR YOU!!PITY!!!

SOULSIDE JOURNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1990!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worth a look if you like heavy music..........2004-01-02

Just a little history for any uninitiated who may be curious: This was actually the first album released by Dark Throne in 1990-91,at least in the US, under the Peaceville label. This initial offering, while certainly featuring some intense riffage, actually had more of a death metal flavor than subsequent releases. Perhaps I have heard too much, but to my mind's ear, the Soulside Journey album has always held a favored place as more of a doom/fantasy composition rather than the speed metal squall that has come to be associated with black metal. I would offer it for consideration to anyone with a real interest in death/gloom/doom or even gothic music. This album has that certain sort of heaviness that goes beyond merely playing your licks faster; and it is delivered with that heart-felt rawness that bands so rarely manage to hold onto after their first album. While I am not dissing their later albums in the least, I do miss the other-wordly feel of Soulside Journey which still sounds different and fresh, even today. Amazon has a new DigiPak cd release featuring an interview with the band that is cheaper than the import disk in case you are just experimenting.

Dark Death from Dark Throne.......2003-10-24

Dark Throne is quite possibly the most underrated black metal band ever. Get this cd and you will agree (that is if you a metal maniac and love fast, evil metal)!

DONT LOOK DOWN ON DARKTHRONE!!!!!.......2003-04-03

All I have to say is for those of you who consider this not a masterpiece and overlook this album "SHAME ON YOU". Darkthrone is overlooked and they should be more on top like those black metal bands to mention a few "Mayhem" "Emperor" "Marduk". Even though im not going to say much, all i'll say is buy the album listen to it and then you'll know where all these other bands get their sound. Darkthrone is a band that kept changing their style(thrash, death, black metal) even though they still play black metal they still make every album different!

Hmmmm...It's something you have to be in the mood for.......2001-02-25

I am a huge fan of Emperor and Mayhem. Before I purchased this album, I knew very little about Darkthrone except that they played all-out no frills black metal. I was excpecting a raw, brutal CD when I popped this one in. There's very little to say about this release. Darkthrone, Marduk, and Burzum to a lesser extent have done this raw, brutal thing to death. This is a CD that anyone who has a craving for primitive, hyperspeed black metal needs for their corpsepainted little selves. For people new to the genre, I reccomend something else. Darkthrone fans will love this, but I'll save Soulside Journey for one of those days where I crave mindless speed and brutality.