After wanting to own a physical copy of Graveland’s “Thousand Swords” for many years, I was finally able to acquire the album on vinyl from Hells Headbangers. “Thousand Swords,” is one of my favorite black metal albums and in my opinion features some of the most profound black metal recordings one can find. I've decided to write a recommendation in hopes of getting more people to check out this classic black metal release that I find to be extremely enjoyable.
Released in 1995, the album was the band’s second full-length album following their debut, “Carpathian Wolves,” along with a handful of killer demos. When comparing “Thousand Swords” to their previous works one can hear where Graveland finally forms their unique musical identity. Rob Darken the main driving force behind Graveland composed what I consider to be the soundtrack for an assault on Christianity by a Pagan army of merciless warriors. Along with drummer, Capricornus, the songs contain a raw and unholy sound of distorted bombastic terror.
The album’s intro builds up great anticipation for the first song, “Blood of Christians on My Sword,” and once the main riff begins you feel drawn into the harsh sounding assault of musical carnage. There are some clever tempo changes that demonstrate how the band does not just come up with straightforward tremolo picking black metal riffs. The next song, “Thousand Swords” continues the war like theme with more fearsome sounding riffs and drum parts. There are these horns that blare over the music as if signaling for an attack upon a helpless village and adds to the albums strong theme.
“The Dark Battlefield” and “The Time for Revenge,” maintain that raw black metal sound by unleashing more extreme sounding pieces of distorted grim chaos. I also find Darken’s vocals to be some of the most haunting black metal vocals and they work well with the instrumental compositions. On “Born for War,” you can hear the unapologetic attitude of the band come through the vicious main verse section. “Black Metal War,” is a short yet aggressive sounding track and declares war against those who are the enemies of this type of music. The final song, “To Die in Fight,” features some powerful lyrics that tell of falling in battle and awaiting the journey to that hall up high with the other fallen warriors.
Overall, I find “Thousand Swords” to be such an underrated black metal release that deserves more attention. We have given too much exposure to the Norwegian black metal scene and all there albums, and I feel it is important to focus on the accomplishments of Graveland who have been very influential over the years amongst the underground black metal community.
I also want to bring attention to how I am disgusted my Antifa and all those SJW morons who have labeled Graveland’s music as racist and a tool for promoting white supremacy. These groups don’t have a clue, because not once on “Thousand Swords” do you hear the band trying to promote Nazi ideology. The music is about paying homage to their European Pagan ancestors, so the whole they are Nazi sympathizers needs to stop. In conclusion, check out this album if you have not and remember to ignore those Antifa jerks who are the real fascist... and pieces of shit.