SATYRICON TALK REISSUE OF SEMINAL ALBUMS ‘DARK MEDIEVAL TIMES' AND ‘THE SHADOWTHRONE'

The stalwart Norwegian band’s drummer Frost on “trying to take the whole black metal genre forward”

- ANURAG TAGAT

As far as landmark black metal albums go, Satyricon’s 1993 record Dark Medieval Times and 1994’s followup The Shadowthrone were important first steps in pushing the (largely) Norwegian movement forward. Over a phone call, the band’s drummer Frost aka Kjetil-Vidar Haraldstad says in a straightforward manner that the reissue of the remixed, remastered versions of these two works via Napalm Records has “forced” them to think back to nearly 30 years ago.

The drummer says, “We’re a very forward-leaning band […] I find it very difficult to come up with any kind of intriguing stories connected to the album.” Nevertheless, he allows himself to get a bit nostalgic, thinking about the atmosphere in his room when he was recording one of the most horrific, yet cathartic black metal albums out there.

While Satyricon have previously dug into their vaults and re-released seminal works like 1996’s Nemesis Divina in 2016 and had deluxe editions, this was different. Founder, vocalist and principal songwriter Satyr has previously noted that making improvements on Dark Medieval Times and The Shadowthrone were difficult because the original master tapes were not really “intact.” Frost adds, “We could only remaster the old albums with the sound and the EQ that’s already there.” Nevertheless, the band prevailed and found their way forward. “The main goal was to add a little bit of depth, give it more bass frequencies, and a little more tone,” Frost says.