Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All (2024)

Returning with another masterclass in crafting sinister and crafty Metal music, today we have the legendary Darkthrone and their latest sickening opus “It Beckons Us All”. Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have made pushing the boundaries of Metal a regular exercise and with this release they unleash seven tracks and nearly 44 minutes of piercing and challenging music. If you've been a fan of the band’s last few releases, this one will come as a natural progression of their sound.

Opening with “Howling Primitive Colonies”, we get an instant taste of the band’s sinister riffs and unsettling atmospherics. The music is raw and direct, but it still delivers those spooky vibes the band is known for. It is quite impressive that the band can still pull new rabbits out of their hat and make the Black Metal roots present on tracks like “Eon 3”, “Black Dawn Affiliation”, and “And in That Moment I Knew the Answer”, bringing back some of those Isengard days thanks to the eerie vocals and riffs.

Clocking in at over seven minutes, “The Bird People of Nordland” is our favorite song thanks to its incisive riffs and crafty drums. There is a certain hypnotic vibe that sends chills down our spine as the guitar leads come on in an instrumental passage, only to quickly shift into old-school Norwegian Black Metal mode, a masterful track. For those looking for the Punk-ish, more ‘dirty’ and crusty sound of the band, “The Heavy Hand” will fill those needs.

Closing with the melodic and nicely Doomy “The Lone Pines of the Lost Planet”, we are left quite pleased with the band’s efforts in this release. While we didn’t really get into their previous release, “Astral Fortress”, this one makes up for it. The band continues to push the envelope and keeps delivering unique and far-from linear or predictable music that is true to their core and yet fresh and engaging.

Label: Peaceville Records

Release: April 26th, 2024

Genre: Black Metal/Black’n’Roll/Metal

Country: Norway