Review by Aaron on March 19, 2005.

Darkthrone is one of those bands that never really changes. That’s not negative criticism, whatsoever. There are very few bands that are able to maintain the same musical quality from album-to-album and not come out stale.

What Darkthrone does well is take what they have and direct it towards a previously uncharted vector of darkness and dirt. Sardonic Wrath is no exception to this. From the get-go, with the dark, “Order of the Ambient,” courtesy of the keyboardist from fellow Norwegians, Red Harvest, it drives the listener into levels of the abyss never before heard on a Darkthrone album. The assault continues with songs such as, “Information Wants to Be Syndicated,” “Straightening Sharks in Heaven” (gets my vote for best song title ever), “Man Tenker Sitt” and “Hate is the Law.” These all hark back to the glory that is A Blaze in the Northern Sky, while still combining tried and true Darkthrone-isms into an album that comes out fresh and new.

This album receives a high mark on production, whereas any other band would be roasted, simply because Darkthrone would lose their atmosphere with high production quality – it wouldn’t work. They know how to use low production quality as an instrument unto itself and it comes through in Sardonic Wrath, well.

Fenriz is getting nasty in his old age, his drumming technique has gotten farther away from actually drumming and gotten more into the “beating the shit out of the sonuvabitch” school of percussion. This works great in maintaining the level of primitivism that Darkthrone tends to maintain atmosphere-wise, while still not lapsing into shoddy performance. Nocturno Culto’s guitar play focuses on very dirty, old-school black metal, with definite tips-of-the-hat to punk and thrash. However, in no way does this detract from the black metal ethic they, themselves, have helped to create and strengthen. There are some that attest that Hate Them missed the mark, to them I say Sardonic Wrath hits it and then barrels forward. I pray to unholy gods that 2005 continues musically the way that this album has paved.


Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 8
Originality: 8
Overall: 9

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by Michael on February 15, 2002.

I think there are only a handful of truly memorable moments in the world of Heavy Metal, and Black Sabbath – Reunion is definitely one of those. The greatest metal band of all time reuniting after a 17 year absence from the stage to play and record a massive show in their home town of Birmingham, England.

Not too much has changed since they last played together. As a matter of fact it sounds like nothing has changed at all down to the band members actually playing the exact same instruments, getting sounds you just do not hear these days. Ozzy is still just as excitable as ever constantly shouting his trade mark “We fucking love you all!!!” and the ever present “Lets go fucking crazy!!!”... he certainly still rocks hard for an old codger.

The only thing that is quite noticeably different is poor old Ozzy’s vocal range has deteriorated slightly. Its probably most noticeable on track 1 of the second CD. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath just doesn’t have the same punch anymore, but that really does not taint the CD much at all, we really should all be very happy and content with the fact that Ozzy can still move and sing at all after the most interesting life he has had so far... even if he does have trouble remembering the lyrics to his own songs, as a monitor can be seen in some of the live pictures displaying the words of the songs in a karaoke fashion for poor old Ozzy to sing along to.

For the lifelong (Ozzy fronted) Black Sabbath fans out there (myself included), this CD is a godsend. All the greatest tracks together, performed flawlessly in a brilliantly presented 2 disc pack with a 28 page color booklet containing extensive liner notes and full of rare photo’s.

The sound quality is everything you would expect from a live recording of a band of this caliber. Everything is clear and the mix is exactly how it was done 20 years ago. They have captured the feeling and vibe of the original Black Sabbath perfectly, creating a brilliant old school experience.

Bottom Line: This is a must for any Black Sabbath fans the world over. If you have any knowledge of metal at all...you already have this album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 10
Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.2 out of 10