review by: Roberto Martinelli

While it’s clear that this seminal Norwegian black metal band is past its artistic and creative peak, there’s something reassuring about every time a new Darkthrone album comes out. As long as this group is alive and making records, there’s a secure feeling that black metal is going to be ok.

So while the new Darkthrone’s music isn’t really extremely exciting in itself, its objective is reached. Darkthrone is no longer employing the necro sound it popularized, but the energy is still raw and black and true to form, much like the sound on Plaguewielder, the last album. Where once Darkthrone albums had the same, freezing, danceless beat all the way through, Hate Them has quite a few groovy parts that are, of course, respectfully within the stringent realms of black metal.

The extremely short time it took to record and mix this album - 26 hours - is a point that isn’t downplayed. It’s fitting, really, as the mystique of the minimalism of the simple riffs and rhythms makes this group’s brand of black metal all the more effective. And there’s something fundamentally wrong with a primitive sounding band taking weeks to produce an album, isn’t there?

But the coolest part of the album is one that can’t be recognized merely by listening to it. More now than ever, Fenriz’s lyrics are deeply stimulating in their syntax and through his penchant for poetic, semi-invented words. Transcending the typical black metal gibberish, reading the lyrics on Hate Them are almost better than listening to the album itself.

While Hate Them isn’t as good as Plaguewielder, it’ll appeal to those who liked it in the same way. For me, even if I hated this record, I’d still buy it. (7/10)