Can it really be 40 years since young Gylve “Death” Nagell (now better known as Fenriz) was a founder member of Black Death? After two years they changed their name to Darkthrone, after which a certain Ted Arvid Skjellum (Nocturno Culto) joined in 1988. They have been a duo since 1994 when they released ‘Transilvanian Hunger’, and there is no doubt they have long been one of the most important bands from the black metal scene. However, there is an argument to be made that like many other long-lasting bands their best years are long behind them, and instead of every release being essential it has been a little more hit and miss in recent years.
I was not a fan of 2024’s ‘It Beckons Us All…’ as I felt it was somewhat confused and they had thrown lots of different metal styles at the wall to see what stuck (very few did), yet like many other Darkthrone fans I live in hope, and there is some real promise here. There are some true disappointments, such as “Siberian Thaw” where the title is repeated ad nauseum, and some which are just too slow, but when they get it right, we have Darkthrone back at their peak. They no longer perform what we think of as black metal, but plenty of their music still contains black metal influences, and the album is pretty apt, although I think they slightly missed a trick as they should have called it ‘Primevil Metal’.
The songs work best when they are at their rawest, everything feels bleak and on edge, away from the over production and back to the days when they were releasing ‘Under A Funeral Moon’ on cassette. These are the times when all one wants to do is turn it up and let the speakers bleed, it is just a shame that we still have some of the consistency they suffered with the last one. However, I do believe it is a step in the right direction and if they can distil the old passion and rage then, perhaps, we can get another opus as important as ‘A Blaze In The Northern Sky’. I certainly hope so.
Rating: 7/10
Links:
https://peaceville.com/