Tsjuder - _Desert Northern Hell_
(Season of Mist, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll (8 out of 10)
Without proper reasons I had filed Tsjuder under boring, superfluous norsecore played by trend-hopping posers. But after having read some favourable comments about their latest album I took a risk and bought _Desert Northern Hell_, and have been positively surprised.

Of course Tsjuder play a style that is fairly unoriginal. They fuse frantic norse black metal -- to my ears the strongest audible influence would have to be early Immortal -- with some over-the-top thrash and death metal influences. The proportions of these ingredients in the overall sound of Tsjuder are similar to Austria's Belphegor or Necrophobic on the classic _The Nocturnal Silence_. The result sounds serious, profoundly energetic and less concerned with droning trueness than with unleashing a good dose of highly aggressive, extreme (black) metal.

The musicianship on display is at a higher level than what the BM underground usually has to offer, especially as far as the drumming is concerned. The production is good, sharp and powerful while never sounding polished. My personal highlights on this CD are the opening salvo of "Malignant Coronation" and "Ghoul", and mostly the only slower track, the totally annihilating "Mouth of Madness" -- which starts as if _Panzerfaust_ era Darkthrone had re-written Exciter's classic "Pounding Metal" anthem and later features a riff that could have been on Exodus' _Bonded by Blood_.

The rest of _DNH_ consists mostly of blazing and blasting material, but fortunately never ventures into the land of eternal boredom and dumbness that present-day Marduk (who else fell asleep during _Plague Angel_?) and other even less capable purveyors of the Swedish high-speed style are ruling. Overall _DNH_ is a decent, solid album and should appeal to all those who like their black metal fast, thrashing, furious and without excessive melodic content.

(article published 31/12/2004)


ALBUMS
3/13/2001 A Wee 8 Tsjuder - Kill for Satan
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