Entry 274 - Thorns - Thorns

 

Thorns debut album. I haven't heard this thing in nearly a decade, and while I have fond memories of listening to it I didn't remember much except a few different riffs. I remember most profoundly that this was what I thought this is what Dodheimsgard's 666 International should have sounded like. I've since come around on 666 International (after more than a decade), and I was curious what my reaction would be to Thorns after such a long time of not listening.

This album is cold. It is mechanical. It is inhuman. The riffs have a mechanical... almost militaristic feel to them. Everything is calculated down to the microsecond. The synths are intentionally synthetic and made to sound inorganic.

The production is a perfect match for the feel of the riffs. There is no "fun" in the instruments, nothing like Sunlight Studio's buzz-saw sound. This - again - sounds inhuman. The guitar tone is clean... so much so that it feels too perfect. The drums are precise and each stroke of the kit is entirely audible from the other, there is no muddling at all... its perfect.

Another thought I had about this album many years ago was that this may be the future sound of black metal. There was so much experimentation going on around 1998-2005 in the second wave innovators that I genuinely thought that black metal was going to morph into completely new territory. Now, 20 years later this album still stands as a pretty unique entry into the field of black metal.

As much as I enjoyed the album when it first released I can look back at it now and enjoy it in its historical context. It does stand up against the test of time and provides an excellent example of experimentation while still adhering to the core black metal sound. This is an excellent album.