Norway's Black Metal veterans are back yet again with another sonic platter of amplified evil, a release that will probably please long-time fans. Sardonic Wrath is heavily steeped in 80's black metal, which was a time when bands like Darkthrone, Venom, Bathory, and Celtic Frost were putting the genre on the map. The problem here is that Darlthrone have been doing this sort of thing for years now, and while newer bands like Dimmu Borgir and Borknagar have been releasing adventurous and fresh sounding symphonic gems that are progressing the genre, Darkthrone have been sort of stuck in the same rut. Mind you, there are some cool doomy guitar riffs here on some of the slower cuts, courtesy of Nocturno Culto, which add a nice balance to the speedier tunes that are littered with evil, gargled shrieking from the guitarist, whose vocal delivery tends to get a little monotonous after a while. He's at his most effective on the pummeling "Rawness Obsolete", a mid-tempo dirge with dark & heavy riffs and pounding drums from Fenriz.
In essence, there's really nothing new or groundbreaking going on here. Metal officionados who have developed a taste for more sophisticated extreme fare will probably be bored with this latest from Darkthrone, which, even with a few interesting riffs, becomes ponderous after a few listens. Add in the barely over 30 minute CD length and you have a a new release that you can probably pass on unless you need to own everything the band records.
Track Listing
1. Order Of The Ominous
2. Information Wants To Be Syndicated
3. Sjakk Matt Jesu Krist
4. Straightening Sharks In Heaven
5. Alle Gegen Alle
6. Man Tenker Sitt
7. Sacrificing To The God Of Doubt
8. Hate Is The Law
9. Rawness Obsolete
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