Darkthrone

Among Norway's array of prominent second-wave black metal acts that surfaced from the region's vibrant early-1990s scene, Darkthrone joined an elite circle—alongside Mayhem, Emperor, Enslaved, and Ulver—in attaining comparable prestige and worldwide acclaim. In contrast to the majority of contemporaries who pursued experimental expansions of the style, the group adhered strictly to its core raw and ferocious black metal approach after establishing it, allowing others to explore hybrid directions. The initial trio of black metal releases—A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992), Under a Funeral Moon (1993), and Transilvanian Hunger (1994)—earned classic status within the genre and came to be known collectively as the "unholy trinity." Remaining highly productive and consistent deep into the new millennium, Darkthrone upheld its reputation as the genre's steadfast engine, with 2020s efforts such as Astral Fortress (2022) and It Beckons Us All (2024) reinforcing their heaviest, most doom-laden inclinations.

The trajectory began differently, however. After the 1987 adoption of the Darkthrone name—following an earlier incarnation called Black Death—vocalist/guitarist Nocturno Culto (Ted Skjellum), guitarist Zephyrous, bassist Dag Nilsen, and drummer Fenriz (Gylve Nagell) focused on death metal material while based in the Oslo suburb of Kolbotn. Over the ensuing years the quartet produced four demo recordings—Land of Frost, A New Dimension, Thulcandra, and Cromlech—before securing a deal with England's Peaceville Records that yielded their 1991 debut Soulside Journey. That technically oriented death metal record aligned closely with leading Swedish outfits of the period such as Entombed, Edge of Sanity, and Tiamat, placing it at odds with the emerging metal circle centered on Oslo's short-lived Helvete shop. Operated by Mayhem guitarist Euronymous, the store served as the cradle for the Norwegian black metal "Inner Circle," whose later actions—including multiple arson incidents, a suicide, and the slaying of Euronymous by Burzum's Varg Vikernes—generated outsized global notice beyond the music's inherent inaccessibility. Exposure at Helvete also drew Darkthrone into black metal's orbit; absorbing Mayhem's raw intensity alongside foundational acts including England's Venom, Switzerland's Hellhammer, Sweden's Bathory, and Brazil's Sarcófago, the members adopted corpse paint and abandoned death metal permanently.

When Peaceville received the masters for the follow-up A Blaze in the Northern Sky in 1992, accounts indicate the label initially suspected a prank given the album's deliberately primitive and violent character across its occasionally lengthy black metal tracks devoted to dark and esoteric themes. Once the lo-fi aesthetic was confirmed as intentional, prolonged negotiations ensued before the record appeared despite the company's reservations about its commercial prospects; bassist Nilsen contributed his parts and then departed. The release marked a decisive philosophical and stylistic pivot for both the band and the broader black metal movement it helped revive, quickly resonating with extreme metal listeners drawn to its unpolished, aggressive return to the style's origins.

Emboldened, Darkthrone channeled full commitment into the new direction, resulting in Under a Funeral Moon (1993)—Zephyrous's final recording before his reported disappearance—and Transilvanian Hunger (1994), their first effort as a duo augmented by lyric contributions from Varg Vikernes. The latter drew criticism for certain liner-note passages interpreted as anti-Semitic, prompting ongoing rebuttals from the group in subsequent years. These developments paralleled their exit from Peaceville and subsequent signing with Norway's Moonfog Productions, run by Satyricon's Satyr. The ensuing three albums—1995's Panzerfaust, openly framed as a tribute to Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost, plus 1996's Total Death and Goatlord—elicited polarized reactions; the last two were widely viewed as weaker, with Goatlord comprising a reworking of the shelved second death metal album artificially adapted to black metal aesthetics. Questions surrounding Nocturno Culto's limited participation in those sessions further clouded the band's prospects.

Nevertheless, reverence for Darkthrone intensified at the close of the century, evidenced by a pair of tribute albums issued in 1998 and 1999. Following an extended hiatus, the duo returned with Ravishing Grimness (1999), regarded as a modest improvement despite its comparatively polished sound, and the more uneven Plaguewielder (2001), which revisited dirtier, blackened thrash textures. Momentum restored, they recaptured songwriting vitality on Hate Them (2003) and Sardonic Wrath (2004), both incorporating occasional synthesizer introductions while remaining faithful to analog black metal traditions and emphasizing concise, memorable riffs that occasionally echoed New Wave of British Heavy Metal patterns. Reflecting similar historical interests, Fenriz curated the 2004 compilation Fenriz Presents: The Best of Old School Black Metal, spotlighting material from Celtic Frost, Sarcófago, Mayhem, Destruction, and additional early acts as he revisited the turbulent post-Inner Circle era on purely musical terms.

Subsequent limited-edition EPs—Under Beskyttelse av Morke (2005) and Too Old, Too Cold (2006)—preceded the twelfth studio album The Cult Is Alive (2006), which surprisingly reunited the band with Peaceville a decade after their split and prompted inevitable reissues. The record's incorporation of punk elements prompted accusations of commercial compromise toward "black & roll," a direction pursued further on F.O.A.D. (2007) and its companion EP N.W.O.B.H.M. Around the same period Nocturno Culto completed and released the feature film The Misanthrope exploring black metal and Norwegian life. These choices underscored the duo's determination to explore punk, traditional heavy metal, and first-wave black metal influences without regard for expectations, a stance continued on Dark Thrones & Black Flags (2008). Peaceville marked the band's twenty-first anniversary that year with Frostland Tapes, assembling the four early demos, the original Goatlord recordings, and a scarce 1990 live performance from Denmark—one of the few concerts ever given by the primarily studio-focused pair. Later releases Circle the Wagons (2010) and Underground Resistance (2013) ventured deeper into thrash and punk-doom territory, while Arctic Thunder (2016), their sixteenth studio album, marked a pronounced return to darker territory; that same year brought the demo collection The Wind of 666 Black Hearts, drawn from 1991–1992 sessions.

Old Star arrived in 2019 as the seventeenth full-length, followed by the intense Eternal Hails (2021), which revisited the doom-oriented Candlemass-meets-Black Sabbath approach of Underground Resistance. Fenriz characterized Astral Fortress (2022), the nineteenth long-player, as "an epic journey of old metal." The band sustained this doom-centric focus on It Beckons Us All (2024), structured around seven extended tracks highlighted by the ten-minute closing piece "The Lone Pines of the Lost Planet."