Reviews list for Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All....... (2024)

Based on Darkthrone’s last three albums, I should love It Beckons Us All. I absolutely lapped up Astral Fortress, Eternal Hails and Old Star, affording two out those three ratings of over four stars. This methodology of what I saw described in one review as “radical egocentrism” or “artistic freedom”, whereby Fenriz and Ted just do whatever the fuck they like has served them well in my book. It has produced some earthy sounding metal that stands out in the modern era like a sore thumb when compared to the more polished elements of metal music nowadays. For the record, I have no problem with any degree of egocentrism if produces true sounding music like Darkthrone have done over the last five years or so.

I recall that I may even have gone as far as to suggest that I may like modern Darkthrone more than I do the early black metal incarnation of the band. In terms of memorability, the last three albums shade most of the early-mid 90’s stuff for me, even if there is an argument to say the quality has dipped over recent years (and of course there is an element to say that it is supposed to have dipped). The fact is though, my love affair with latter day Darkthrone has come to an end with It Beckons Us All. Despite multiple listens and an acknowledgement that there is nothing far removed from previous releases on this latest offering, I just cannot get into the record. Perhaps there is something to be said for continuing to tread a well-trodden path before the scenery goes from being interesting to just lots and lots of fields – although that does not feel like a fair reflection of the sound of the album.

I can hear all the riffs in here that virtually infect your brain from the start of the record. That familiar crusty edge to things still retains enough cvlt points to keep the tracks constantly dunked in necrofilth and even the doomier aspects continue to grow across the album. Yet somehow, It Beckons Us All just does not speak to me as well as its predecessors. The change is with me, most definitely. Darkthrone have not necessarily put a foot wrong, more I am just no longer on the same path as them. As with most love affairs, it was great while it lasted though.

I can't believe that eighteen months have already passed since an ice skating Fenriz heralded the arrival of "Astral Fortress", but here we are and, in what is becoming quite the regular occurance, Darkthrone are back again with a new album, entitled "It Beckons Us All". It very much continues the direction of travel of their last few albums, even going back to 2016's "Arctic Thunder", when they started introducing a doominess into their crusty heavy metal sound. Along with Eternal Hails and Astral Fortress this now forms another unholy trilogy for the duo where this crusty trad doom sound has been fully realised into, what I like to call, necro-doom. Obviously nowhere near as influential or seminal as the original unholy trilogy, I think that it is significant that Darkthrone can still deliver the goods more than three decades on, having carved out a niche for themselves in the metal world, where they are pretty much unrivalled at what they do, never becoming dragged in by whatever is trending in the wider world of metal, consistently delivering quality material and with a knack for writing killer riffs which very few can aspire to.

After a few brief seconds of a 1950's sci-fi movie-style synth intro, opening track, Howling Primitive Colonies, kicks off with a marvellously infectious and memorable riff and sets the tone for the album as a whole, taking the early Nineties' trad doom sound of lesser known lights like Penance or Revelation and performing the equivalent of burying it for thirty years so it acquires a rotted, musty odour, by using black metal production techniques and Nocturno Culto's croaky, blackened vocal style that gives it all a real necro sheen. If you have heard any of their new albums since 2016, then you will have an idea what "It Beckons Us All" sounds like, but it is here where that crusty trad doom sound reaches it's peak with some of their most memorable riffs in years. That opener has three killer riffs as it switches from the brilliant introductory riff into a more sustainable and doomier, verse-carrying one which ultimately drops into an uptempo, gallop designed for maximum neck-wrenching action. Howling Primitive Colonies is a really strong opener and is one of the best tracks Darkthrone have written in this latest cycle of their existence, setting the album up in glorious style. Second track Eon 3 is obviously an extension of Astral Fortress' closer Eon 2, sharing themes with the earlier track and serving to tie the two albums even closer together.

The quality never dips either and, as much as I enjoyed Astral Fortress, I think It Beckons Us All... has seen this era of the band hit it's peak and may well be my favourite Darkthrone album since 1995's Panzerfaust. The riffs really are some of the best since the band's heyday of the early nineties and the production has cranked up that crunchy doom sound to a perfect pitch, sounding loads better than AF did. Black Dawn Affiliation, for example, sounds amazing, the crusty crunch of it's main riff providing a driving wall of sound upon which Nocturno Culto's vocals necrotic vocals inscribe the lyrics with Fenriz' drumwork perfectly placed within the mix to reinforce the track's momentum without stealing the thunder from the riffing. And those riffs just keep coming - "The Bird People of Nordland", the doomy "The Heavy Hand" and the longest track and closer, "The Lone Pines of the Lost Planet", all contain memorable and iconic riffs. Songwriting-wise, I think this is some of the tightest the duo have produced in some time, their occasional tendency to let things run away with them being kept under control in the main, allowing the tracks to flow really well and resolve themselves satisfactorily. Even the proggy twists and turns of "The Lone Pines of the Lost Planet" seem vital to the overall narrative and never come across as self-indulgent or padded.

For someone like myself who is already a massive Darkthrone fan, it's always an event and a joy when Fenriz and Nocturno have new material out, but this time around the duo have outdone themselves and totally exceeded my expectations. Two of my greatest musical loves are Darkthrone and doom metal, making It Beckons Us All... sheer nirvana and it will undoubtedly be sat very near the top of the tree when I start making my 2024 best albums list.