Darkthrone – Hate Them – Review

Darkthrone

Hate Them (The End)
by Adrian Bromley

Easily one of the best albums of 2003, Norway’s duo Darkthrone returns with a truly haunting, evil, and vile specimen of black metal. Enforced by a wicked punk-like gusto and a remarkably dirty production, the band manages to create an album that reeks of older-era Darkthrone, but at the same time incorporating a modern, darkened vibe. A lot of people were a bit skeptical after the band’s previous album, Plagueweilder (2001), managed to bring the duo out of the darkened depths a tad and mix things up with their black metal and, some say, mainstream sounds, but one listen to Hate Them will destroy all thoughts of the band selling out. “Fucked Up and Ready to Die” and “Rust” are brutality at its finest, as are the other masterpieces tacked onto this outing. Not many bands have been able to tap into the evil mindset/vibe that’s encompassed Darkthrone’s music over the past decade, and thank Satan for that.
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