Throne of Katarsis - The Three Transcendental Keys
I’ve never been to Norway, but the winters there must be brutal for the country to produce so much dark, bleak, and cold music as it does. Throne of Katarsis is a band that embodies all three of those characteristics. The Three Transcendental Keys is as dark, as bleak, and as cold as Norwegian Black Metal comes. This LP has that Burzum-esque droning style melded with raw and dirty Transylvanian Hunger-era Darkthrone, plus dark, dismal melodies, and howling, reverb-laced vocals thrown in to make things even more evil sounding. I admit that the style isn’t exactly groundbreakingly original. I’ve been listening to Scandinavian Black Metal for twenty years now and I’ve heard a lot of bands. Throne of Katarsis might not be doing anything different or unique, but they know how to squeeze the most out of what they have. If you want to make this kind of Black Metal, old Burzum and Darkthrone is a good place to start. The Three Transcendental Keys is a pretty harrowing affair, mostly due to the heavily reverb-laden guitars and vocals. If there’s one thing that keeps it from greatness, it’s the droning style. Some might like it because the somewhat ambient nature of the music lulls you into a weird hypnotic state - and it is pretty mesmerizing at times - but if you’re paying attention, the repetitive structures get kind of boring. As a side note, one of my friends told me that this LP is one you shouldn’t listen to while taking any hallucinogenic drugs. I haven’t tried it, and I don’t recommend it, but apparently the experience isn’t good.
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