- Country: Norway
- Style: Black metal / Heavy metal
- Label: Peaceville Records
- Release date: 14 October 2016
There’s something wonderfully stubborn about Arctic Thunder. Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have stripped everything back, with Nocturno handling all the vocals, and the result is cold, slow-burning heavy metal with a black metal heart. “Tundra Leech” sets the tone with a lumbering, almost doomy riff that circles round and round until it turns hypnotic.
“Boreal Fiends” and the title track are where the album really bites: grinding mid-tempo riffs and a damp, rehearsal-room sound that refuses to flatter anyone. “Inbred Vermin” has a rough Celtic Frost swagger, and “The Wyoming Distance” sends you out on a gloomy, rolling groove. Not every riff lands, and anyone hoping for the blasting of the early nineties will be bored stiff. Everyone else gets one of the most purposeful records this duo has made in years.
Best tracks:
Tundra Leech
Boreal Fiends
Arctic Thunder
Inbred Vermin
Author’s rating: 8.6/10
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