I just got finished watching the 2008 documentary Until The Light Takes Us and decided to revisit a few of the albums that got the whole Black Metal Inner Circle shitstorm going. Listening to Darkthrone's seminal sophomore release I was surprised how good it sounds two decades later. A lo-fi mishmash of death and black metal, Northern Sky is far less cheesy than Burzum's debut and significantly darker than Mayhem's Deathcrush. Of course there are a few cringe-inducing vocal cues here and there but all in all a solid 40 minutes of angry bleakness. Drummer Fenriz came off as an interesting guy throughout the Light Takes Us documentary. At times defensive, at times unnecessarily aggressive and somewhat egotistical, he generally offers up a good sense of humor throughout it all; his opinions and recollections regarding this LP made for an even more interesting listen as well (evidently there is a 2CD re-release of this album with Fenriz offering that
commentary on (or during?) all of the songs but this is just the basic Peaceville release). For even more in-depth material on the whole rise and fall of the Norwegian scene check out the amazing book Lords Of Chaos - essential shit. Enjoy.
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