Rather expectedly Darkthrone's black metal era had to run out of steam at some point, and though, Panzerfaust is often given the derisory title as a "leftovers" albums - as if to denote it somehow lacked the power of the band's earlier work, on the contrary it might well be the best thing they ever did - it is actually Total Death which shows a lack of the vision and, well, the focus and drive of their past works. Yet still, this is a wholly listenable album... but the lukewarm praise I can give Total Death only goes to show a further point; this is the band's first unessential album. When listening it only becomes readily apparent that this while being quite good is actually quite shocking for being so (again, giving moderate praise makes just heightens the sense of a letdown). When compared to previous triumphs, as is so painfully necessary, Total Death just seems to be the epitome of a gentle letdown, fading out into - dare I say it - more generic black metal territory.