Orchestral Maneuvers in the Darkthrone

Lately, it seems I am the Cover Tune/Tribute Album King.  My last project was my tribute to the late, great Frank Zappa, and now I am in the midst of posting my newest project, which is my re-arrangement and orchestration of Darkthrone's classic 1994 album, "Transylvanian Hunger".

Yep, I've gone insane.

This is not a Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth style orchestration, rather a much more traditional, orchestral work.  More of a small, symphonic ensemble or Chamber Orchestra performing the music. No heavy guitars, cavernous bass guitar, or screeching, demonic vocals.  Just a few instruments (strings, horns, percussion) performing the basic melodic themes as interpreted by yours truly.

Probably a bit more similar to Jaz Coleman's "The Symphonic Pink Floyd", or "The Symphonic Led Zeppelin".  With me waving the little stick around.

All rights to to this music belong to Ted Skjellum (Nocturno Culto) and Gylve Fenris Nagell (Fenriz). Go buy the original albums for a taste of Norwegian Black Metal History (though I don't recommend the album to anyone who is not a fan of extreme metal).

The album will be available at the Internet Archive at the following link.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO DOWNLOAD PAGE

Or download the whole album, covers, etc., in a zip file HERE!

Give it a try.  You might like it.

BTW, you realize there's no "real" chamber ensemble here, right?  It's just me on Keyboards, MIDI instruments, etc.  Didn't want to give the wrong impression to anyone that I'm trying to pull a fast one here.

More Zappa, now on Youtube!

This is my first real attempt at posting one of my songs (actually a cover/tribute song) on YouTube.  No real video, just some pics of my guitars, amps, etc.

The song is "Chunga's Revenge", the title track from Frank Zappa's 1970 album.  The solo is "okay".  Listening back to it, I definitely messed up some notes, but I wanted it very spontaneous and live.  It's a first take run-thru solo, flubs and all.



Overall, it sounds pretty good.  Yeah, I've been in a bit of a Zappa mood again.  It's officially just over twenty years ago that we lost him. So go out and buy some of his albums.  I recommend "Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar", "Joe's Garage", "Bongo Fury", "Make A Jazz Noise Here", "Guitar", "Apostrophe", Overnight Sensation".  There's so many, and now you can hear samples of most of them on YouTube, so dive in and pick what you like.

Howzabout my guitar tone?  That's my Xaviere XV-870 "Darkside Edition", with "Lil Killers" pickups (the bridge and middle setting), thru my POD XTLive set on the Aggro X amp (is that right?), with a bit of simulated Tube Screamer as a booster.

The guitar is not easy to play.  Medium size frets, and the action is all over the place, but I really like the "sound" of it.  And it's very lightweight.

So there you go.  Still trying to figure out what my new music will be, but I think I will include this one, perhaps a bit remixed.