Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance (2013)

As is usually the case, my enjoyment of the new Darkthrone album is predicated somewhat on their previous release.  I really like Circle the Wagons and have gotten to know its charms a lot better in the last couple of years.  When it initially came out, I scoffed and was dismissive; I hadn't been into Darkthrone and was content with the other discoveries I had made that year (2010, for the record; some of those "discoveries" will probably get reviewed here at some point).  But then something happened: I gave Circle the Wagons a fair shot on its own merits.  And I found that I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I try not to compare The Underground Resistance to other bands in other sub-genres.  It's enough that it has to deal with the other albums in Darkthrone's oeuvre, isn't it?  Even then, it has a bit of trouble.  In other words, it's still growing on me.  That said, I feel like I have a handle on where its strengths and weaknesses lie.

First, the main weakness: Fenriz's vocals.  On Circle the Wagons, Fenriz was in fine form, at least, if I've got the tracks on which he's doing vocals nailed down correctly.  I'm still not quite sure how the division of labor went down there.  On The Underground Resistance, which is more clearly divided between tracks that have his vocals and those that have Nocturno Culto's, Fenriz is a bit like the fly in the ointment.  "Valkyrie" in particular suffers from an overly histrionic approach that exhibits far too much stretching and an over-emphasis on falsetto.  Falsetto is nice, but you have to pick your spots and not overwhelm the listener with it.  For whatever reason, the vocals in "Valkyrie" annoy me, and that tends to carry over through the next track, and sometimes the one after.

Nocturno Culto, on the other hand, remains strong throughout.  He even adds some lead guitar lines that are tasteful and appropriate to the song.

The standout track, obviously, is "Leave No Cross Unturned".  I'm a sucker for 10+ minute tracks, thrash, and good closers.  "Leave No Cross Unturned" is all of these, plus it has killer leads and a hilarious shout-out that is the highlight of the record.

However, when one stacks up these six tracks against the material on Circle the Wagons, one notices that there are a few things missing.  None of these songs match the attention-grabbing "Those Treasures Will Never Befall You" or "I Am the Working Class", for example.  Thus, while I like The Underground Resistance, I don't love it.