Norwegian black metal veterans Darkthrone will release a new album, “It Beckons Us All”, tomorrow (April 26) via Peaceville Records. Today the band has shared the official video for “The Bird People Of Nordland”, created by Matthew Vickerstaff.
Whilst freely admitting the concept for the song “Not a very metal subject, sorry!” Fenriz explains “It’s about the EIDER bird and Nordland. Many years ago I saw a Norwegian documentary about the symbiotic relationship the coast people of Nordland had with the bird. They watched over the nests and in return could pick the eider for pillows clothing, warmth, etc. So that is what the lyrics are about.”
But, he continues “Again, this is Ted’s song so a bit hard for me to comment on it musically but I will tell you all what I think when I hear it. First of we have a typical grim Ted riff for the verse, then he surprises with a catchy riff for the refrain, AND THEN comes my fave part of the album; the post-refrain riff which sounds like Queensryche 1984 style and you can also hear how much we enjoy to play it! EXACTLY where I want to be! Could have played that riff for 8 minutes straight, haha! This loops again with the refrain again without singing and then back to Queensrÿche ’84. The first riff again with my added harmony guitar playing on it, what our studio man Ole Øvstedal called “the Corleone part”.
“A break arrives and then things are sped up (not faster than Yardbirds in 64, we are not an extreme metal band, more like MODERAT EPIC) which corresponds with a slower heavy metal riff where we also brought out the mellotron if I remember correctly.“
“Then Ted bombs you with a final part, primitive d-beat thrash with a riff that sounds like Tom G Warrior made it and I also ordered Ted to lay on some hellish guitars. Anyway, I LIVE for that Queensrÿche 84 riff, Ted!”
Humble as ever Nocturno Culto states “Well, AGAIN, talking about our music really blows or is very difficult, at least for me. Personally, music is a floating thing, and I am having a hard time trying to break it down. It´s metal, a bit of heavy/doom/black/thrash, that is Darkthrone now, mixing genres has been something we have done since A Blaze, and especially since 2005. And I am just looking forward to new material, new riffs, and ideas.”
Pioneers of a sound that changed the world. Lifelong disciples of suspense and mystery. An enigmatic duo like no other, hell-bent on haunting souls through the eternities. There are many things Darkthrone have been called since forming in 1986 and these are but a few, having drawn from a creative well so potent and powerful it turned them into one of Norway’s biggest musical exports. Following their debut album “Soulside Journey”, the next three full-lengths, often referred to as “the unholy three”, set the benchmark for black metal in the early ’90s, though in truth they’ve never been the kind to rest on such laurels — distilling elements of vintage punk, doom, thrash, and death into their own sonic fingerprint and continuing to test that equation throughout the years. It’s been quite the journey, having won cryptic pair Nocturno and Fenriz legions of loyal fans around the world. This tradition will only continue with the latest masterpiece “It Beckons Us All”.
The new music is an intense observation of the world around them — exciting and challenging the listener in equal measure, in the way only they can. Some of the riffs howl across a gallery of ice and snow while others crackle like a volcano awakening from its timeless slumber, Nocturno‘s demonic barks ricocheting across the intoxicating structures almost like it’s beaming from a long-distant galaxy. As Darkthrone have shown us so many times in the past, their music is as visual as it gets — evoking tangible imagery through the medium of sound. Whether the ideas are somber, reflective or incensed, they exist as emotional concepts you can see and feel as much as you hear.
“I am having difficulties putting into words my personal feelings around the existential title “It Beckons Us All”. I can only hope others out there can feel the darkness that encompasses it,” muses Fenriz.
Never afraid to venture beyond the confines of the extreme metal template they were paramount in creating, there are moments on “It Beckons Us All” that will dazzle and surprise, as well as satisfy fans of old. Nocturno comments: “We recorded in the manner we always do, live, meaning drums and guitar, with another guitar added later. We found a new twist during this process that surely benefited this album. Fenriz did stellar clean vocals on several songs, and his way of thinking creatively made it so good. We also shared the bass work this time around. We added a lot of extra layers like solo guitars… it was just a cauldron of ideas. Instead of finding a plug-in or choir synth patch, we both recorded four vocal tracks each. Darkthrone is an ever-evolving band, as many should know by now, and this album is touching a bit into the heavy genre. I have no idea what genre we are, and have really not cared much about it, but I know for sure it’s metal.”
Pre-order “It Beckons Us All” HERE.
In that sense, “It Beckons Us All” is very much demonstrative of two visionaries at their world-commanding best. They know what works but more importantly they choose to grow, throwing every ounce of their hearts and souls into evolving the jaw-dropping whirlpool of noise that could only ever have come from their collective minds. There are clean guitars, clean vocals and less typical instruments thrown into the mix, but the approach, intent and ethos at the heart of their fearless artistry remains very much the same. This is music for dreamers who find themselves paralyzed by the contrasting beauty and ugliness in the world surrounding them. Never ones to appease the faint-hearted, Darkthrone are as real and human as it gets.
“It Beckons Us All” was recorded in April and May 2023 at Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo, the same location used for the “Eternal Hails” and “Astral Fortress” albums, mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door, with artwork courtesy of Polish artist Zbigniew Bielak.
“It Beckons Us All” track listing:
1. Howling Primitive Colonies
2. Eon 3
3. Black Dawn Affiliation
4. And In That Moment I Knew The Answer
5. The Bird People Of Nordland
6. The Heavy Hand
7. The Lone Pines Of The Lost Planet
