Review by Emma on October 6, 2009.

All right you black metal intellectuals, put down your Cliffs Notes on Nietzsche and listen up. If you added Immortal, Mayhem, Dark Funeral, Dissection, Satyricon, and Gorgoroth and divided by 6 what would you get? Take a moment here. Think about it…it’s Thornium!
"Mushroom Clouds and Dusk" is the second album released by Thornium, the long over due follow up to their debut album "Dominions of the Eclipse", which was unleashed on the world in 1995. This latest release has so far found its way into my personal vocabulary as ‘the golden (blackened?) mean’ of what is most commonly considered the black metal sound today. This album is not bad, it’s pretty good actually; but there is absolutely positively nothing new happening here. And that is my one big complaint for "Mushroom Clouds and Dusk", because everything else is good about it! The musicianship is up to par, the whole album is Solid, there are no ‘what was that?’ moments. Not to mention a few good solos. Good job Thornium! But I can go back through my personal metal collection and pick out the albums and then songs this and that riff is from, and that’s a problem. Some cheesy audio clips would’ve padded the fall of "Mushroom Clouds and Dusk" into becoming the collage of familiarity it is. Even the production sounds exactly like innumerable black metal albums already produced. Maybe I should lighten up on this problem here, I mean, the guy (Thypheus) who started Thornium back in ’93 apparently spent a good chunk of time in the cooler before bringing the band back to life. He may not have processed the time that has past, writing this album for days when this material would have been fresher. However, the world did keep turning. I could give a more detailed description of what exactly they sound like and what is going on, but if you’ve listened to any second wave black metal albums before worth noting, you already know.
Big points for a well-done and solid release, massive deduction for total lack of creativity. If you’re not picky about your black metal selection (a bit of an oxy moron) or want to play it safe in buying some more black metal, this album is worth checking out.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8.5
Production: 7.5
Originality: 3
Overall: 6.66

Rating: 6.9 out of 10