The time has come for one of the elder statesmen of the second wave of Norwegian Black Metal to release a new album. Darkthrone may have strayed far from their original blueprint in both sound and philosophy, but one thing the duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto do well is maintain their musical independence and their manic productivity. It Beckons Us All was released on April 26, 2024, on Peaceville Records, and takes its place as the twenty-first full-length release in the band’s shapeshifting history.
Obviously, no one who has come this far on the good ship Darkthrone is expecting any blazes in northerly skies, funeral moons, nor any fausts, Panzer or otherwise. After a string of creative Black Metal releases from the mid ’90s into the new millennium, the band suddenly pivoted into far more Punk territory. They carried this forward until 2013’s The Underground Resistance, at which point Fenriz and Nocturno Culto morphed into what could roughly be considered their modern era. NWOBHM, Doom Metal, with only a general veneer of sound still nodding towards their corpse painted origins, the duo has soundly shown the world that they will write music in the style they prefer at the time. Considering their first album, Soulside Journey from way back in 1991 was a death metal album, no one should be surprised anymore.
The level of artistic freedom Darkthrone works within is rare in and of itself, but as was stated above, these two devotees of extremity accept no limitations. The stately march of “The Bird People of Nordland” reeks of Black Sabbath with gruff vocals. The riffs of “Black Dawn Affiliation” maintain a distinctly trad metal feeling while reminding the listener of the cold Black Metal roots lurking underneath everything Darkthrone does.
There is also “Eon 3,” which could have been recorded in the same time and place as Metallica’s debut album. Old school values and that analog feeling are one of the things that makes bands of Darkthone’s vintage so appealing. Hordes of kids will hear this music bereft of the expectations carried by the Darkthrone logo, and it will appeal the way Candlemass and Hellhammer appeal and continue to appeal. Excellent clean vocals, sounding echoed and distant, add to a nice atmosphere with some fantastic guitar harmonies.
Darkthrone’s unpredictability is a nuance unto itself, as opener “Howling Primitive Colonies” sounds like Carnivore vocals crashed into St. Vitus style metal, with some extra chugging involved on the guitars. This is some creative songwriting on offer, and when they throw out an instrumental track in the form of “And In That Moment I Knew The Answer,” the listener can get lost in the sincere guitar leads.
“The Heavy Hand” continues the doom worship, as heavier than cinder block rhythms descend in this slow-paced burner. This of course sets us up for the albums’ ten minute long closer, “The Lone Pines Of The Lost Planet.” As the song unfolds, one couldn’t be blamed for thinking Darkthrone has penned their own “Fade to Black” opus, as the mood shifts towards the profoundly melancholy. There is no balladry, however, and the song turns very strange in its back half. Dreamy and half-ambient, it gets taken home in bizarrely ethereal fashion.
Restless, reaching out to almost all tendrils of sincere Heavy Metal music spanning decades, Darkthrone at this point cannot be considered a Black Metal band – whatever their history. What they are is a band worshiping real old-school Heavy Metal and writing songs to prove that dedication. For these reasons, Cryptic Rock gives It Beckons Us All 4 out of 5 stars.
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