A Blaze in the Northern Sky

A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Studio album by
Darkthrone
Released26 February 1992
RecordedAugust 1991
StudioCreative Studios in Kolbotn, Norway
GenreBlack metal
Length42:02
LabelPeaceville
ProducerDarkthrone
Darkthrone chronology
Soulside Journey
(1991) 		A Blaze in the Northern Sky
(1992) 		Under a Funeral Moon
(1993)

A Blaze in the Northern Sky is the second studio album and the debut black metal album by the Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was recorded at Creative Studios in August 1991[1] and released on 26 February 1992 by Peaceville Records. In addition to earlier rehearsal recordings made between March 1991 and the Norwegian summer holidays (later released as a demo compilation in 2016), the album features the band's first official black metal recordings[2] and is regarded as a classic within the genre.[3] It is the first album of what fans refer to as the "Unholy Trinity," with the other albums being Under a Funeral Moon and Transilvanian Hunger.[2][4] This album was the last to feature bassist Dag Nilsen. In 2020, it was included in the National Library of Norway's permanent exhibition due to its significance to Norwegian culture and its role as a foundational work in Norwegian black metal.[5]

Background

Darkthrone's first album, 1991's Soulside Journey, was a Swedish-styled death metal release. Following the recording of Soulside Journey, the band began crafting songs that were recorded on an instrumental demo later released as Goatlord.

After the completion of Goatlord, three of the band members—Fenriz, Nocturno Culto, and Zephyrous—resolved to focus on creating black metal music. Bassist Nilsen was opposed to this shift in direction and subsequently left the band; however, he agreed to record his bass parts for the album as a session musician. A Blaze in the Northern Sky was recorded in August 1991 at Creative Studios in Kolbotn, the same studio where Mayhem recorded their influential Deathcrush EP. In an interview, Fenriz noted that the album felt somewhat "rushed" and that many of the songs featured "death metal guitar riffs" performed in a "black metal style."[6]

Due to Darkthrone's abrupt transition from death metal to black metal, Peaceville was initially unwilling to release the album in its current form. The label was taken aback, having expected the band to continue producing death metal in the vein of Soulside Journey. Peaceville ultimately agreed to release the album only if they could remix it, asserting that the sound was "too weak." In response, the band threatened to release the album through Deathlike Silence Productions, the label owned by Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth of Mayhem (to whom the album is dedicated).[6] However, Peaceville eventually acquiesced, allowing the album to be released as originally recorded.

Release

The album was released by Peaceville on 26 February 1992. The first CD pressing was limited to 2,000 copies and featured a white disc. The front cover displayed Ivar Enger (Zephyrous), the band's rhythm guitarist.

In 2003, the album was remastered and reissued by Peaceville, repackaged in a cardboard digipak. This release also included the second chapter of a four-part video interview with Fenriz and Nocturno, covering the band's first four albums. A Blaze in the Northern Sky was reissued again by Peaceville in December 2009 as a double gatefold LP on 180-gram vinyl, limited to 2,000 copies.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[7]
Pitchfork9.2/10[8]
Rock Hard9.0/10[9]
Sputnikmusic[10]

In his retrospective review of the album, Eduardo Rivadavia from AllMusic described the album as "a classic whose almost indefensibly lo-fi standards would reinvigorate an entire strain of black metal."[2] Channing Freeman of Sputnikmusic characterized the album as "triumphant," highlighting its balanced blend of "frozen production and guttural screams" alongside "a sense of community."[10] In his recap of Darkthrone's history for Pitchfork, Sam Sodomsky called A Blaze in the Northern Sky "a revelation" and described the music as a mix of "old-school riffs, gurgling spoken-word interludes, noisy solos that grind up against the infernal blast beats in a kind of sonic battlefield."[8]

In 2009, IGN included A Blaze in the Northern Sky in its "10 Great Black Metal Albums" list,[11] while a 2007 article in Decibel magazine labeled it "the first truly blackened death metal album."[12] Kerrang! referred to it as "a dark watershed for the black metal genre," describing the song "In the Shadow of the Horns" as "seven minutes of defiant lo-fi production, frostbitten purpose, and blunt-force simplicity."[13]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Fenriz; all music is composed by Darkthrone.

No.TitleLength
1."Kathaarian Life Code"10:39
2."In the Shadow of the Horns"7:01
3."Paragon Belial"5:24
4."Where Cold Winds Blow"7:26
5."A Blaze in the Northern Sky"4:57
6."The Pagan Winter"6:35
Total length:42:02

Personnel

Darkthrone
Additional musicians
Production
  • Erik Avnskog – engineer
  • Dave Pybus – album cover design

References

  1. ^ Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky CD cover Archived 11 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c d Rivadavia, Eduardo. "A Blaze in the Northern Sky - Darkthrone". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  3. ^ Fenriz (16 November 2020). The album that defined early Norwegian black metal – Interview with Fenriz with English subtitles (Videotape) (in English and Norwegian). Nasjonalbiblioteket. Retrieved 24 March 2022 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ Montague, James (15 March 2006). "Darkthrone - The Cult Is Alive". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  5. ^ A Blaze in the Northern Sky: Ted Skjellum and Harald Fossberg (in Norwegian). Nasjonalbiblioteket. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  6. ^ a b A Blaze in the Northern Sky (video interview). 2003.
  7. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  8. ^ a b Sodomsky, Sam (22 September 2019). "Darkthrone: A Blaze in the Northern Sky". Pitchfork. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  9. ^ Albrecht, Frank (2 March 1992). "Review Album: Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky". Rock Hard (in German). No. 60. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  10. ^ a b Freeman, Channing (22 September 2019). "Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  11. ^ Ramirez, Carlos (6 January 2009). "10 Great Black Metal Albums". IGN. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Darkthrone - "A Blaze in the Northern Sky"". Decibel. 18 March 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  13. ^ "The 50 Most Evil Songs Ever". Kerrang!. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
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