Pre-Historic Metal is, somewhat unbelievably, the twenty-first album from Darkthrone and, as may by now be expected, little has changed in their world. As Fenriz has long noted, old school metal transcends fashion and, therefore, neither dates nor goes out of style – it simply is. And so, this wittily titled album emerges as yet another love letter from the band to the genre to which they have dedicated their lives.
Before we get to the music, however, a word on the cover art. While a new Darkthrone album can never a bad thing be, the cover for this latest effort is so bad, you have to wonder if someone in the art department accidentally took a joke to its logical conclusion. Given the amazing imagery that adorns the likes of Circle The Wagons, Old Star and, annoyingly, the deluxe edition of this very album, it’s disappointing to say the least. On the plus side, it’s the last disappointment this noisy little beast has to offer.
Produced by Ole Ovstedal, Silje Hogevold & Mads Luis and recorded at Chaka Khan Studios, Oslo, Pre-Historic Metal certainly sounds great. From the moment the crusty They Found One Of My Graves snakes into view, the frenetic riffing anchored by heavy, mid-tempo drums, it is clear that Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have lost none of their gift for penning grimy, authentic metal. What is, perhaps, more surprising, is a trippy final third that sees the band segue from the world of early Judas Priest into that of Hawkwind. A cool conclusion to a great opening track, it also serves to make the dirty riffing of Pre-Historic Metal all the more brutal. With grinding guitars and rasping vocals drenched in reverb, Pre-Historic Metal is not merely the title track for the album but a manifesto for everything the band have done, at least since FOAD – primitive, gnarly, and utterly brilliant.
An early album highlight, the eerie Siberian Thaw is built around a mid-tempo, melodic guitar line that is hypnotic rather than harrowing. When it does eventually pick up the pace, it is for brief sprints of brutality that sit amidst the wider piece, making for a mesmerising track that works its dark charms over the course of nearly seven minutes. It’s followed by the dirty proto-metal of Deeply Rooted which, with a swing beat underpinning the stabbing riff at its heart, commands the listener to bang their head.
Opening the second half with histrionic vocals sitting happily alongside a sweet blend of old-school Priest and deathly doom, The Dry Wells Of Hell is a great song, even if the phrase “gastric juices of the pit” has unlocked a new fear that I didn’t even know existed. Rather shorter, the instrumental So I Marched To The Sunken Empire employs layers of reverb and a somnolent beat to evoke the titular environment, emerging as a unique, even rather beautiful piece of music. It provides a brief respite before the frantic Eat Eat Eat Your Pride blazes from the speakers. Even here, however, the band enjoy leading the listener a long a winding path, with spacier riffs and some really cool bass lines sandwiched between the chunkier riffs that dominate the track.
Pre-Historic Metal wraps up with a none-more-brutal doom track. Powered by sludgy riffs and peppered with harrowing wails of anguish, Eon 4 plays out like the soundtrack to some long-lost and grimy exploitation flick from the 70s – think Goblin’s collaborations with Argento, albeit amped up to eleven, and you’re in the ballpark. It provides this album of gloriously old-school metal with a fitting and thrilling conclusion.
Darkthrone continue to exist out of time as uniquely belligerent proponents of heavy metal. Entirely uninterested in fads or commercial concerns, their music is neither more nor less than a reflection of the band’s love of the genre and unsullied by external forces. It is for this reason that I absolutely love this band, and Pre-Historic Metal is simply another great reason for me to remain in thrall to their ever authentic, ever-awesome sound. Darkthrone remain the antidote to the increasingly over-produced and soulless music that permeates the mainstream – long may they reign. 9/10
Limited-edition boxset:
This special edition of ‘Pre-Historic Metal’ is presented as a limited boxset, & contains:
- Exclusive splatter 180gm heavyweight vinyl with gatefold sleeve & exclusive alternate cover artwork by Maciej Kamuda.
- Exclusive cassette edition.
- CD edition.
- Booklet including an interview with Harald Fossberg on the making of ‘Pre-Historic Metal’.
- 2 posters
