THORNS / EMPEROR split LP Norwegian industrial black metal dodheimsgard mysticum

$

25

THORNS / EMPEROR split LP

__________________________________________________________
(Peaceville)
*** This is a new and unplayed item, direct from the CRUCIAL BLAST shop. ***

DESCRIPTION FROM CRUCIAL BLAST:
  At long last, this split album between two of the Norwegian black metal underground's most infamous bands is now available on vinyl for the first time ever, and we also have the CD reissue that came out a while back in stock as well. Fans of this classic black metal split should take note that the new 2014 vinyl edition of the Thorns / Emperor split features the original eight tracks from the Moonfog release, but does not include the bonus tracks from Peaceville's CD reissue.
  Still one of my favorite Nordic black metal releases, the Thorns / Emperor split featured the first new material from Thorns mastermind Snorre Ruch after his release from prison, as detailed in the book Lords Of Chaos. Drawn out of stasis by Moonfog label boss Satyr (who also provides all of the vocals for the Thorns side of the album), Ruch's new vision for Thorns first took form here with this bizarre LP released in 1999 on Moonfog, which featured a combination of new material along with the two bands trading off strange, experimentally-tinged covers of each other's work.
  "Exordium", the opening track from Emperor, sure stands out from the rest of the band's output. A weirdly industrialized instrumental track that mixes together harsh militaristic percussion and pounding mechanical rhythms, this song is made up of darkly ominous orchestral loops and sinister layered samples, almost serving as an introduction to the Thorns track that immediately follows. When "Ærie Descent" kicks in, it's with that now newfound industrial sound that Thorns had evolved into, a menacing, creeping industrial black metal dirge of crushing processed guitars and stuttering programmed drums heaving beneath the washes of black symphonic splendor, sinister minor key strings and warped carnivalesque organs unfolding over the fractured digital noise and sleek electronic textures, the music all twisted and warped by technology into a strange permutation of Norwegian black metal. The song slips into passages of muted darkness, languidly paced stretches of washed out blackened guitar, sprawls of winding proggy organ, and shards of clipped orchestral sound that suddenly erupt into galloping mechanized power.
   The three Emperor tracks that follow rank as some of the strangest material the band ever produced, beginning with the bizarre blackened electronica of "I Am", constructed from various fragments of the song "Fall" off of the early Thorns demo Grymyrk, which Ihsahn and crew reconstructed into a hallucinatory industrial deathmarch. Majestic symphonic melodies and heavily processed black metal guitars are stitched into delirious funhouse keyboards, bubbling electronic rhythms and smears of backwards sound swelling over harsh martial percussion. Ihsahn's imperious screams streak over blasts of savage mechanized black metal, those digital noises and effects splattered liberally throughout the track. That's followed by Emperor's own version of Thorns's "Ærie Descent", here reshaped into something even more malevolent and raw, sounding a lot like classic mid-90s Emperor, Ihsahn's tyrannical croak soaring over the frostbitten crush and evil waltz-like arrangements, before finally drifting out into a long outro of sinister calliope music and funereal violins. And "Thus March The Nightspirit" is a neo-classical re-imagining of a track off their legendary Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk, transformed into a strangely whimsical piece of orchestral music that almost resembles Danny Elfman fused to a backdrop of martial percussion.
  The rest of the album features the remaining Thorns tracks, returning with more of that splintered, skulking industrial dirge, murky minor key guitars wavering over fractured electronic beats, thick black syrupy bass pulsating between the slippery, ice-encrusted tremolo riffing, the sound infested with fragments of digital decay and bizarre otherworldly samples. The songs are a mix of new material and older demo tracks wildly mutated by the new industrial aesthetic, and they finish the side with their own cover of Emperor's "Cosmic Keys To My Creation And Times", stripping it down into a vast, desolate industrial dirge, the evil riff winding around a distant muted pounding rhythm, slowly thumping in the blackness, the sound menacing and militant.
   The 2011 Peaceville CD reissue also adds an extra three Thorns tracks on at the end as a bonus, two rare, instrumental pre-production versions of the songs "Ærie Descent" and "The Discipline Of Earth" and a new version of the song "You That Mingle May" from the 1991 Grymyrk demo, featuring Fenriz and Satyr on vocals, a savage lurching frostfuck of weirdly angular black metal, almost like some perverted noise rock jam. If you're even slightly interested in industrial black metal and/or classic Norwegian black metal, this one is required listening.   © CRUCIAL BLAST
THIS IS A NEW, UNPLAYED ITEM. Please note that for LP vinyl orders, we usually remove the vinyl from the jacket prior to shipment in order to avoid seam splits or any other kind sleeve/jacket damage that might occur during transit. This may require that we open the shrinkwrap on the record in order to carefully remove the vinyl from the inside of the jacket (if the record was originally shrinkwrapped). Feel free to contact us with any questions regarding this policy.

Crucial Blast is an independant underground label, online shop and micro-press specializing in cutting edge, transgressive, experimental heavy music and related cultural artifacts, with a particular focus on avant-metal, black noise/industrial, dark ambience, infernal psychedelia, and hardcore improv/free-jazz. You'll find everything from art-damaged European metalcore to amplifier-exploding psychedelic drones to earth-shaking post-Ayler destructo-jazz in our listings, which we update roughly every two weeks with both brand new releases and rare finds from the vaults.

ALL REVIEWS FROM CRUCIAL BLAST ARE THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF CRUCIALBLASTSHOP.NET., AND ARE NOT TO BE REPRINTED, REWRITTEN, OR BORROWED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION FROM CRUCIAL BLAST. COPYRIGHT 2000-2013. ::: SHIPPING AND PAYMENT INFO :::

Payment for your order is expected within SEVEN DAYS from the end of auction/buy it now purchase. Our turnaround time for orders is listed at 3 days, but we usually ship within 24 hours of receiving your order.

WE DO COMBINE SHIPPING ON MULTIPLE ITEMS ! PLEASE NOTE: In order to have us combine shipping, you MUST wait for us to send you a revised invoice for your order after you have clicked on BUY IT NOW for ALL of the items you want. Please contact us if you have any questions about this.

ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL (NON-U.S.) CUSTOMERS: Recent changes in the US postal system rates for packages going out of the US have raised the cost for sending small parcels internationally; you'll get a better value for your shipping cost if you order a minimum of 2-3 items at a time. Remember to let us send you a revised invoice for combined shipping for multiple items before sending your payment.

SHIPPING TIME: We will generally ship your order the same day that we receive your payment for the order. If there are any issues or potential delays with your order, we will contact you ASAP to let you know.

Don't forget to check out all of our other CRUCIAL BLAST-approved avant-metal/black industrial/trasngressive art items and releases that are available in our Ebay store and on auction. We also have many out-of-print and rare items available in our catalog as well... CRUCIAL BLAST: An online shop specializing in experimental metal, black industrial, black psychedelia, noise rock, dark ambience, and other forms of cutting edge and left-field heaviness. We also carry a carefully curated selection of books and other printed materials from the realms of black surrealism and transgressive thought.


Hit us up with an email
if you have any questions.

Click here to check out
all of the other 3,500 + items we have to offer from the realms of subterranean metal, transgressive art, experimental heaviness, and blackened industrial...