DARKTHRONE has gone through more than one stylistic shift in their lengthy career. Starting out as a pure death metal outfit, Darkthrone then completely altered their aesthetic to become one of the leading names in the bueorgening black metal scene of the late 80s. Yes, they have been around that long and more recently, have crafted a crust-punk sound to assault listeners’ ear lobes.
Darkthrone continues digging deeper into their experimental repository with It Beckons Us All, the Norwegian duo’s 20th full length album.
Approaching the band’s projects is an experiment in tempering expectations. Though their debut was conceived as a death metal album over 30 years ago, Darkthrone pivoted away from the subgenre and instead created three of the quintessential albums in the second wave of black metal music.
Two decades ago, Darkthrone shifted gears once again, more or less leaving behind pure black metal in favour of experimenting with the wider soundscapes within heavy metal.
Not content with being boxed in to the rigidity of the former, Darkthrone’s change involved the blending of black metal with punk, heavy and doom metal. This has never been clearer than It Beckons Us All.
Though some of their previous albums have strayed too far from the norm, this album is much more reigned in by Gylve “Fenriz” Nagell and Ted “Nocturno Culto” Skjellum.
The album bears all the hallmarks of duo’s stylings for the past 20 years, blending black metal songwriting and production with heavy doses of heavy and doom metal.
On tracks like Eon 3, Darkthrone’s black metal-like tremolo picking stands against the doomy slow-tempo, and then, Black Dawn Affiliation leads with crunchy heavy metal riffs and drumming, before eventually easing into a psychedelic choir of Nagell’s singing. Others like The Bird People of Nordland and The Heavy Hand experiment with bits of experimental Celtic Frost riffs that bookend the otherwise doom metal tracks.
Darkthrone may have left behind the style that they pioneered in the 90s, but the ethos of black metal not caring about mainstream song structures continues to play a prominent role in the band’s approach to songwriting. This is most evident on the final track for the album, The Lone Pines of the Lost Planet, a cocktail of violently opposing influences that somehow just works together.
The song’s intros and outros are reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s music, each brief respite in between sees Darkthrone pulling it in different directions, from slowed down doom metal riffs to progressive psychedelic rock and heavy metal melodies.
Far more consistent than Astral Fortress and just as focused as Eternal Hails, It Beckons Us All is the strongest Darkthrone has been since they shifted styles with 2006’s The Cult is Alive. Veterans of the scene they may be but Darkthrone still have enough surprises up its sleeve to have devotees coming back for more.
Darkthrone fully deserves the “legendary” tag and this album underlines why.
