It turns out that Darkthrone and I have radically different ideas of what constitutes “pre-historic metal”. When I hear the term, I think of late ’60s proto-metal acts like Blue Cheer, Cream, and Iron Butterfly who not only predated Sabbath, but Zeppelin as well. Darkthrone, on the other hand, apply the label to first wave black metal pioneers like Venom, Hellhammer, and Celtic Frost, who admittedly sound “pre-historic” in comparison to the black metal that came in the decades to follow, but I digress. Pre-Historic Metal also happens to be the name of Darkthrone’s latest studio album and chapter in their never-ending musical progression (or regression, depending on the effort).
This most recent arc of Darkthrone’s career has been quite the wild ride. Starting a decade ago with 2016’s Arctic Thunder, the band has settled comfortably on a lumbering brand of blackened doom with nods to Sabbath, Hellhammer, Frost, and various assorted cult metal heroes of the early ’80s. Some of these albums were doomier than others. Others lay more on the early blackened side of the spectrum. The constant throughout has always been Nocturno Culto and Fenriz: Two Norwegian lifers whose love of heavy music is unmatched by arguably any other headbanger in their entire country, save for perhaps Metalion of Slayer zine infamy.
Anyways, in the case of Pre-Historic Metal, after years of flirting with Hellhammer and Frost-isms, going as far back as their early ’90s Norwegian black metal heyday, the dynamic duo have said, “Screw it!”, and decided to assemble an entire album of Frost worship at its most ferocious. The colossal riffs, explosive drums, and rotten production feel like a throwback to the Tom G. Warrior-fronted outfit circa Morbid Tales (1984) and Emperor’s Return (1985). 9 times out of 10, I’d blast such blatant sonic resemblance, but considering Mr. Warrior himself hasn’t tapped this vein in multiple lifetimes, opting to go further down the road that is Frost’s 2006 swansong, Monotheist, I’ll gladly take it, especially when executed so efficently.
In all fairness, Pre-Historic Metal is more than JUST a Frost worship album. There are, again, flashes of early ’80s trad metal worship, as if Darkthrone revisited their old mixtape collection, on which bands like Oz sat comfortably next to Heavy Load and so forth, prior to writing and recording this beast. Even stranger are the incorporation of spacey, Hawkwind-esque psychedelia passages on cuts like “They Found One of My Graves”, “Siberian Thaw”, and the instrumental, “I Marched to the Sunken Empire”. Meanwhile, cuts like “The Dry Wells of Hell” and the closing “Eon 4” boast occult, horror metal flair reminiscent of Death SS, Paul Chain, and the Italian doom scene.
Although not of the caliber of the last handful of Darkthrone albums, Pre-Historic Metal is a force to be reckoned with: The closest thing to a first wave black metal time machine. It’s dark, crude, and heavy as all hell, embodying the true black metal spirit and ethos more than any corpse paint-faced band of pretenders who’ve arisen in the past two decades ever could. Perhaps even Mr. Warrior himself could pick up a thing or two from this album, strip down the production of the next Triptykon album (assuming that ever happens) and tap into the barbarity of his youth. A man can dream!
8 out of 10
Label: Peaceville Records
Genre: Black/Doom Metal
For fans of: Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, Death SS
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