Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger

An album of pure melody, Transilvanian Hunger sees Darkthrone eschewing the rhythmic Hellhammer influences of its predecessor Under a Funeral Moon in favour of forging a more pulsing and minimalist ambient path with no teleology or intention other than a continuous cycle of melodic aggression and atmospheric ambiguity brought forth by simple but effective riff interplay.

Coherent orchestration and conceptually challenging song construction are what make or break minimalist black metal albums, and on Transilvanian Hunger it's what makes the brilliance of these simple riffs shine: raw patterns fashioned from chaos, building atmosphere over a plodding, variationless rhythmic structure.

Although nominally a Darkthrone album, the final product can ultimately be attributed to two musicians whose contributions are equally important, though separate in effect: Fenriz, the instrumentalist, and Varg Vikernes of Burzum, songwriter and lyricist for much of the later half of the album.

In essence, this is true black metal. Perhaps the best work by Darkthrone.

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