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DARKTHRONE
Arctic Thunder

Peaceville (2016)
Rating: 7.5/10

And so with a thanks list as long as your sword and a cover depicting a wintry campfire scene, Norwegian warlords Darkthrone are back. But this time the complete and utter traditional 80s worship has somewhat dissipated in favour of a sludgier, doomier sound circa Ravishing Grimness (1999).

Fenriz has also given up the vocal ghost so that Nocturno Culto can once again bring his lead, ashen throat to proceedings. And the move is a positive one, even if I was initially cautious having preferred the mix of rust and shriek from previous outings. But then again, I have loved everything that Darkthrone has puked up; whether in the form of icy death metal, grim black metal, or 80s suckling retro-evil. They’ll always have their critics but one can only applaud the way they’ve trudged on through the years doing what they want.

Arctic Thunder, named after the Norwegian 80s thrash band (although I think Arctic Tundra would’ve been a better title!), opens with ‘Tundra Leech’, and immediately I’m drawn into this suffocating quagmire of sludgy, Hellhammer / Celtic Frost-styled moroseness. The slow, foreboding doom-drenched guitars are nothing new to us, and neither is that grim vocal sneer straight out of Tom G. Warrior’s cookbook, but after being subjected to previous efforts such as The Cult Is Alive (2006) or The Underground Resistance (2013) we should’ve known that Darkthrone wouldn’t stray too far from that particular path. It’s catchy, primal, dense and crusty metal born from the mid 80s and as murky as a puddle in a Norwegian forest.

This time there’s a more direct feel to the record. Bereft of any gimmicks, it’s very much a straight up grim-fest featuring some killer stabs of metallic melody, but still very much headbanging material that you can nod along to while stoking your camp fire.

Now that we’ve heard ‘Tundra Leech’ for the millionth time we move with excitement and trepidation to ‘Burial Bliss’, and in spite of several listens it’s one of the albums weakest moments mainly due to its inability to go anywhere. Sure, the pace is quickened to a blackish, punkish slab of coldness, but paired with ‘Inbred Vermin’ there’s an all too familiar and bland feel, which while implementing the groovier doom elements just disappoints too much. But hey, Darkthrone are human.

Things get back on track with ‘Boreal Fiends’; a track which begins with a sombre atmosphere before becoming another old school fetid chugger, made all the more refreshing by a killer Nocturno Culto solo. The album is also refreshed by the murky ‘Deep Lake Trespass’, which is drenched in melodic doom before a cool breakdown enables a shift in pattern. But whichever track the band aims at you, one cannot argue with the seemingly serious nature of it all even if behind the pines there is still that tongue-in-cheek nature from the pair.

‘Throw Me Through The Marshes’ is another of those freezing cold doom slabs which I enjoyed, and yet closer ‘The Wyoming Distance’ disappoints as a three-minute bland trudge.

It seems that the Darkthrone lads have done well to bring back that sodden, solemn doominess, but have somehow sacrificed vim, which means that Arctic Thunder doesn’t really bring much new or invigorating to the table. While there are those who may celebrate such stubborn moroseness, there will be those saddened by the lack of epic 80s metal throwbacks or strains of nostalgia. However, having said that, there are enough slick and sick riffs on offer here to leave even the most hardened of us howling at the moon.

Neil Arnold