THORNS - Thorns CD

Originally formed in 1989 by mastermind Snorre Ruch, Marius Vold, and Bård Faust (Emperor), Norwegian band Thorns has inspired a great number of acts such as Satyricon, Mayhem, Dissection, and Emperor, mainly due to Snorre's highly influential style of playing and creating riffs on the early Thorns demo tapes. So impressed was Euronymous of Mayhem, that Snorre became second guitarist in the band for a while and his riffs were used in classic Mayhem tracks.

 

'Thorns' was the band's debut (and only, thus far) full-length studio album. It was released in 2001 and is a cult slice of highly-individual Norwegian black metal, including experimental and sometimes industrial influences along with synth passages to create a chilling yet clinical slice of extremity. The album was notable for featuring Satyr of Satyricon on vocals, a duty shared between songs with the vocal talent of Aldrahn (ex-Dødheimsgard) and the recording line-up also featured Hellhammer of Mayhem on drums. The outcome was a unique and original album which is today considered a cult classic release by critics.