Thorns - Thorns (2001)

Hard to believe its been ten years since this albums original release. I still remember all the hype at the time; constant rumblings about Thorns one of the most influential and utterly original Norwegian Black Metal bands was finally releasing a full-length after over a decade of existence.

At the time I had not heard the split with Emperor either and when I tried doing Internet searches nothing much really ever came up. So, I really didn't know what to expect when I finally got my hands on this one. However once I listened to it that first time and having continued to listen to it throughout the years its become vividly clear to me and that its truly a favorite of mine as well as surely one of the most important black metal releases ever.

Although Thorns is the brainchild of one Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch as he handles all guitars, bass, keyboards and programming on this release he was joined by Satyr of Satyricon fame as well as Aldrahn from Dødheimsgard as lead vocalists plus Hellhammer as the bands drummer.

In comparison to the split with Emperor a good portion of this record is speedier in nature with songs like, 'Existence.' 'World Playground Deceit' or 'Interface to God' actually making good usage of Hellhammer's ability to blast away behind the drum kit in an almost inhuman manner. On the other hand a lot of it is just mid-paced too, such as on the songs, 'Underneath the Universe, Pt. 2' & 'Stellar Master Elite' or even quite slow and indescribable as best shown on 'Shifting Channels' & 'Vortex' and at times even switching to purely dark ambient music (Underneath the Universe, Pt. 1).

Perhaps what makes this release so intriguing is because so much is going on during the songs and even the parts that are common are done in a different manner. For example some of the synths are absolutely bizarre in character and some of the strange effects spread out through the album sound as if they were taken directly from a deep space sci-fi movie. The drums, which honestly sound programmed are played by Hellhammer, but have a strong industrial touch to them, which only adds to this albums otherworldly vibe. The guitar work although devoid of solos since the songs are anything but typical in structure have both their dissonant and semi-melodic qualities to them which really keep you hooked through the whole record and in fact many a time I've found myself bangin' to this strange album. The vocal work is also perfect regardless of whose screaming and I have to say Snorre's spoken voice is absolutely creepy and I can't help but wonder why this guy has never pursued voice acting as a hobby.

In the end its almost impossibly to fully describe this record and make it a convincing record to pick up, and in fact sometimes I don't even know why I adore it so much. It could be the uniqueness or the fact that no two songs are alike or perhaps just simply because its a fucking awesome record. I have no idea, but this is truly one to take to the grave or space, I'm not even sure.

This is industrial black metal in all its twisted psychotic glory and still to this day it remains the finest example of said genre, though many have expanded upon it or directly ripped Thorns off, but no one has toppled this album yet.

Unfortunately though Thorns didn't continue strong from here and become the biggest name in the industrial black metal sub-genre. No, in fact the band hasn't released a new album yet, but rumors have been floating about since 2007, yet all that has been released is a 12" split and a compilation of the bands demos from the early 90's. With any luck the band will return strongly one day, but holy hell finish it up already!