Darkthrone are back. The Norwegian black metal institution has confirmed Pre-Historic Metal as the title of their new studio album, set for release on 05/08 via Peaceville Records.
The announcement lands hot on the heels of The Fist In The Face Of God, the recently issued box set revisiting the band’s foundational black metal years. Now Fenriz and Nocturno Culto — currently marking 40 years since their earliest formation as Black Death — are ready to drag something new out of the primordial dark.
The title track video, directed by Matthew Vickerstaff, can be seen below.
Fenriz isn’t overthinking the title. “Prehistoric is a loose term,” he says. “I just figure it’s our vibe, our take on things, and it’s more of a statement that we use old style to create something new.”
Picking up where 2024’s It Beckons Us All left off, Pre-Historic Metal is built on primal riffs and a sound rooted firmly in the spirit of the ’70s and ’80s. The record charts a course through thrash, black, heavy, and doom metal, with Darkthrone reportedly leaning harder into the writing instincts of their late-’80s output — but with the craft sharpened rather than softened.
Fenriz lays it out plainly: “It means that we are metal. With very loud guitars. ‘Frightfully barbaric but not without finesse’, I call it. We collaborated in the studio more than ever, who’s playing what is still in a purple haze, but last but not least, it was a sort of hardening of the arteries — we decided to tighten the tourniquet and do eight effective songs brimming with riffs instead of the airy plodding we so much enjoy usually.”
The album was recorded at Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo, with production handled by Ole Øvstedal, Silje Høgevold, and Mads Luis. Mastering duties went to Jack Control at Enormous Door and Maor Appelbaum Mastering.
