• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

I haven't paid much attention to Darkthrone since they started moving away from black metal and venturing into a more blackened heavy/thrash/punk-ish direction. Some of their later albums left me cold, but this one is actually pretty cool. Harsh vocals and pretty catchy blackened thrash with a bit of a traditional metal vibe is what Arctic Thunder is about and what sets it apart is that it's pretty raw stuff and you can hear a bit of that old Darkthrone vibe in there. It's definitely more accessible than their earlier albums, but it's crisp, kind of laid-back metal that has its charm. I wasn't always convinced by the experimentation of their later years, but they may be on to something with this sound.