I remember the days when I didn’t have air-conditioning in my car. It was painted black (of course), and in summer, whenever it was standing in the sun all day long, the temperature inside of it would get hardly bearable. But then I would just put this album into my car stereo and the temperature inside would instantly drop some 30 degrees. The car being comfortably chilly then, I could start driving…
Now, let’s be serious: ‘Nifelheim’ is of course not an album to listen to while driving your car, and it’s certainly not an album to listen to in the hot sun either. But you get the idea what kind of an atmosphere this album creates: a freezing one. As the minimalist black/white layout already hints at, this is pure second wave Black Metal without any compromises, recorded in northern Sweden in the beginning of 1993. Unlike their second, more melodic album ‘On Twilight Enthroned’, ‘Nifelheim’ does not have that typical swedish sound. The sound here is like a winter night, piercingly cold yet clear, favoring the trebles. Don’t worry, it is not sterile, but stays organic and sufficiently raw to maintain the atmosphere. The riffs are very varied, ranging from typical scandinavian tremolo-picked buzz-saws to more old-school thrashy ones, and they are always played in a dirty yet flawless way, like they should. The guitar-sound on ‘Nifelheim’ is icy, one of the coldest I have ever heard (and I have heard a lot). On top of that, Beretorn is howling like a possessed wolf. His vocal expression is extremely hateful. The pace of the music is mostly mid-tempo or even a bit slower than that (not 'Black Doom Metal-slow'), but there are enough fast parts as well to keep it varied. The eight tracks are rather compact, simple but well written; there are no useless gimmicks, only straight grimness. Although keyboards are present in some tracks, they are very scarcely used.
‘Nifelheim’ is a great Black Metal Album that unfortunately seems to be forgotten by most nowadays. If not quite a classic, it comes close to being one, so if you are interested in Black Metal in the true sense of the word (or if you don’t have air-conditioning in your car), then I can highly recommend it.
Throne of Ahaz is a lesser known black metal band from Sweden. Why they are lesser known, I believe, has a lot to do with timing. Their first full length was recorded in March 1993, but it's release was delayed until 1995. This had to be disastrous for the band. While so many other black metal bands were putting out their defining albums that would make them legends, Throne of Ahaz was sitting around and not releasing their fully recorded debut album.
In any case, lets talk about this demo. Why is this a demo? I don't understand what is going on with this band. The production on the demo sounds really good, like an official release should sound. This does not sound like a 1992 black metal demo. The bass is a bit loud at times but other than that it sounds cold and a little distant, it's very ideal for the music. The songs seem completely developed and the riffing is great. You can really tell the band was very influenced by Bathory and the more extreme thrash metal bands. Under a Fullmoon sounds like a Kreator song infused with black metal. Despite this tremolo picking seems to be somewhat absent from the album, favoring more a more riffy and aren't too far from Bathory's repertoire and perhaps even influenced by Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky. The album also has a lot of melodic moments and good lead guitar parts and even guitar solos. The solo in At The Mountains of the Northern Storms even has a little bit of shredding. Only one of the songs of the demo, The Calling Blaze, made it onto their first album. This does not mean the other songs aren't as good though, At The Mountains of the Northern Storms is probably my favorite song on the demo.
The songs are great, they sound great, this could have been an EP or more. With 3-4 more tracks this could have been a full-length release. It's likely this could have been done considering Nifelheim was recorded in March 1993 and included 9 new tracks. If Throne of Ahaz really jumped on it, they could have had their debut album by the end of 1992 and it would have probably sounded great. But enough about this bands numerous missed opportunities. The demo is great, and if you like the their full-lengths you are doing yourself a disservice by not listening to it. Recommended for anyone who likes black metal.
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