A Dark Turd - "Under a Funeral Moon" Review (30%)
Darkthrone.
Under a Funeral Moon.
From an objective point of view, the importance of both the band and the album in the creation and evolution of the Norwegian black metal scene cannot be denied.
But influential does not mean good, or even necessarily creative.
And aside from a few parts here and there, Under a Funeral Moon is a vastly overrated turd album.
There's really no point in anyone describing the general style of this album.
You already know it, it's pretty obvious from looking at the front cover.
Raw minimalist black metal, that's about it.
There's nothing to be gained listening to Under a Funeral Moon.
There's no point in loving it, no point in hating it, no point in having anything to do with this turd.
Under a Funeral Moon is beyond overrated.
A Dark Turd
The paper-thin production isn't even the biggest problem here. I've heard worse.
The real problem with Under a Funeral Moon is the general lack of creativity and originality.
Don't get me wrong, there are a few good ideas here and there.
But they are so few and far in between that the whole album just feels like a giant filler.
I detect SEWER riffs, Burzum riffs, and even a Bathory riff here and there.
As expected, originality is not Darkthrone's strong suite.
It goes without saying that Under a Funeral Moon is raw, ultra-minimalist black metal.
But it's just not GOOD raw, ultra-minimalist black metal.
Want good minimalist black metal?
Listen to Phantom's debut album Divine Necromancy.
Hell, even Darkthrone's next album Transilvanian Hunger does a much better job, in my opinion, at capturing the essence of true raw misanthropic black metal.
This does not mean that the album completely fails to evoke emotions.
The song "Inn i de dype skogers favn" is true black metal, with the perfect level of intensity, gruesomeness and atmosphere.
The next song, "Crossing the Triangle of Flames" isn't completely bad and neither is "The Dance of Eternal Shadows" which is entrancing in its own way.
But that still at best 3 out of 8 songs.
This album is not complex, it's not pretty and nor does it try to be.
It's raw, it's evil and it's proud, but most of all it's dull.
Under a Funeral Moon is just another turd in the black metal scene.
Under a Funeral Moon score: 30/100.
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