Darkthrone‘s Nocturno Culto releases the debut album by his new band Avrak on 9 October through Peaceville.
Ted “Nocturno Culto” Skjellum has a second band, and its first record arrives on 9 October. Avrak comes out through Peaceville, the same label that has carried Darkthrone for most of their career, and the opening single “Unborn” is out now with a video.
The Norwegian group was formed in November 2023 by Skjellum and guitarist Anders Hegna, known for his work in Nød, El Kayenne and Svidd Grevling. The two had known each other for years and share a taste for older rock and metal.
The first songs came together inside a week, and Skjellum told Dev Gohil in June that the arrangement was a gamble neither had tested.
“Actually, I’ve known this guy [Anders] for — I don’t know — 12 years or something. And I knew he was in other bands. And we talked about maybe we should do something once and try it out and see what it becomes,” he said.
He set out where their tastes diverge: “We come from slightly different angles, when looking at music, but we have a lot in common. I listened to Kreator up until ’87 max, and he’s likes [listening] to things from ’88 and onwards. So I have a bit more old-school path. But it’s fun.”
On the first sessions, he added: “When we decided [to play together for the first time], we locked ourselves into a cabin up in the mountains for, like, five days. We had a lot of equipment with us, and we had never played together before, and let’s see how this works out. And it could be after the first night that we just [say], ‘Okay, this doesn’t work. We are going to sit here for five more days.’ But we were on to something quite early. And it’s a lot of coincidences on how this is working.”
Skjellum had said from the outset that he would not sing lead, so Hegna took the microphone. Drummer Terje Kråbøl of Gjendød, Sarke and Faustcoven came in weeks later.
Skjellum described the record as built on the friction between how the two of them play.
He said: “On the album that we recorded in February, [Anders] has the kind of, let’s say, a bit of a more rock guitar sound thing, and I have the more metal guitar sound thing, and they kind of blend together. The music is very… I mean, we play two different things almost all the time on this album, and it sounds really chaotic, but this is the hard part for us to be working with. To get this right, it takes a lot of time, and also our arrangements and small details.”
He continued: “I think the Avrak album is coming out this autumn sometime. And we’re looking forward to it. For us, it’s like a milestone because all the hours we put into this project, and we also played actually a concert now in late April. So, the goal for Avrak is to play more live. I mean, we have a great band together. So, we got that confirmed in April that, yes, sure we can play live. It’s no problem.”
Asked how the writing differs from his other band, Skjellum pointed to the process before the sound.
He explained: “Well, it’s different, especially in the most obvious way, is that me and the other guitarist, we are making everything together. He doesn’t live far away from me, so we have a rehearsing space down here, and we are working closely on all the details of this music. And the music itself definitely differs from Darkthrone because… It’s a bit more classic heavy metal, hard rock. There could be some doom things there and maybe some black metal elements, but it’s more of a classic — what should I say? — heavy, heavy metal kind of thing. And I think that that’s kind of one of the things that makes it interesting for me because I’m a huge fan of the classic heavy metal from the ’80s and stuff like that, the more optimistic decade somehow, something like that. I mean, heavy metal in the ’80s was very different because the European heavy metal versus the American heavy metal was… It’s very, very far away from each other because the Europeans, of course, have more history. And then their music [is] darker somehow. So the European heavy thing was — not like the party kind of thing, but it was a different thing. Yeah, I like it.”
That contrast matters for a musician who has spent close to four decades in the same group. Skjellum joined Darkthrone in spring 1988 and has worked as a duo with Fenriz since the early 1990s.
Avrak was recorded, mixed and mastered at Mølla Studio by Knut Magne Valle in February 2026. Nine tracks run across classic heavy metal and doom rock, with synth passages and some black metal phrasing in the mix, and lyrics dealing with standing firm against corruption. It comes out on CD, black vinyl, silver vinyl and digitally.
- “Forever Mountain” (04:45)
- “Unborn” (04:45)
- “Long May The Lums Reek” (05:22)
- “Rot” (01:07)
- “Varde” (04:31)
- “Cloaks Of Power” (03:45)
- “The Lonely Shadow” (05:32)
- “The Rift” (05:55)
- “Hav” (02:47)
The Lineup
Bassist Steinar Gundersen, of Khold, Sarke and Satyricon, completed the band in time for their first concert, played in their hometown of Porsgrunn in late April. More shows are planned around the release.
- Anders Hegna – guitars, vocals, bass
- Ted Skjellum – guitars, Moog guitar and synthesiser, additional vocals, effects
- Terje Kråbøl – drums
- Steinar Gundersen – bass
Three of the four have crossed paths before. Skjellum has sung with Sarke since their 2009 debut Vorunah, Gundersen joined that band the following year, and Kråbøl has also played with them.
