Consuming the Tangible

From May 2, 2024

Okay, right up front there’s stuff we need to get out of the way: of course I love It Beckons Us All……., the latest slab of unadulterated, 100% pure Grade-A metal from the legendary, the colossal, the towering behemoths that are individually Fenriz and Nocturno Culto (aka Ted), and collectively known as Darkthrone. This should not come as a surprise – I love every Darkthrone album. Okay, so right off the bat you’re now warned: there’s little to no objectivity to this review. But as I’ve said over and over again during the eight years I’ve been writing for the site, when do any of these reviews have any objectivity? With the air now clear, let’s dive in and see why I love this album so much. Deal?

Read the rest over at Nine Circles.

I used to have a running rule when it came to ranking albums: any year Darkthrone releases an album, assume it’s #1 and my actual list is just a ruse. Except of course when Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, aka Ted, are actually listed as #1, as was the case with 2019 and Old Star. They’re the band that influenced me the most when it came to creating my own music, and their fearlessness regarding following their own muse through the templates they set creating second wave black metal to the more black and roll moments starting with 2006’s The Cult is Alive with the occasional detours to epic heavy metal (The Underground Resistance) and more doom-laden platters (Eternal Hails……) reflect the way I want to approach my own songwriting.

Is It Beckons Us All……. an essential release? No; despite Fenriz’s return to sharing lead vocal duties after the last few albums being left for Ted, and the killer single track “Black Dawn Affiliation” this is very much more of the same vein of music Darkthrone has been churning out since the pandemic.

Didn’t matter to Motörhead; doesn’t matter to me.