Throne of Ahaz - Nifelheim (1995)

I guess it was sometime in 2001 I picked up a compilation titled, 'No Fashion Classics,' which from what I remember was a 2CD ten year anniversary release for Swedish label, No Fashion Records. Although I don't own that comp anymore, regrettably, it gave me my first taste of killer bands, such as; Unanimated, Mörk Gryning, Decameron and Throne of Ahaz. I remember ToA above all else really stuck out for me, but I never found their albums and largely I forgot all about the band eventually. That is until a few weeks ago when a routine visit to the record store turned up this gem within the used section.

'Nifelheim' was recorded in late February of '93, but for whatever reason wasn't released until '95, which is a shame since had this album been released in mid to late '93 it may very well have had an impact on the Swedish black metal scene since it would have been released before or shortly after albums like, 'The Somberlain' or 'Those of the Unlight.' By passing that unfortunate tidbit, ToA conjure up some seriously grim and highly impressive black metal on this debut.

The entirety of the album has a very old school vibe to it that straddles between typical tremolo picked melodies and something very similar to Celtic Frost, Venom and Bathory and in a way it almost sounds like the Swedish version of, 'A Blaze in the Northern Sky' at times. The riffs have all the buzzing raw glory of the early 90's black metal scene, as well the nocturnal pulse of an ominous bass guitar buried underneath it all. The actually movement of the music varies a bit too, as sometimes its semi melodic, at others its mid-paced and gloomy while alternatively its somewhat doom-ish too, but a lot of the time the band blasts away in an early Marduk-ish style, though again this albums recording pre-dates Marduk's full-on embracement of black metal.

The atmosphere really is something on this release too. This is one of those records where temperatures fall and hairs standup on the back of your neck. Some very occasionally placed keyboard arrangements also aid in this frosty dark mood, though the riffs and Beretorn's blood curdling tormented screams are surely massively enough.

Unfortunately like many other records from this time period its never been re-released and is in a lot of ways just a forgotten piece of black metal history. Regardless, 'Nifelheim' is an utterly mesmerizing record well worth hunting down.