For more than three decades, Darkthrone have consistently avoided standing still creatively. From their early death metal roots to becoming one of the defining names in black metal, the Norwegian duo has never been afraid to reinvent aspects of their sound when the time felt right. Now, according to Nocturno Culto, the band is once again preparing for change — while also acknowledging that the end of Darkthrone may be closer than fans would like to imagine.
In a recent interview with Invisible Oranges, Nocturno Culto spoke openly about the creative discussions he and Fenriz have been having since releasing their newest album, Pre-Historic Metal, on May 8.
The conversation began with the interviewer pointing out similarities between Pre-Historic Metal and 2013’s The Underground Resistance, referencing an earlier statement from Nocturno Culto about wanting to evolve the band’s songwriting approach after that era.
Reflecting on the progression of Darkthrone’s sound, Nocturno Culto explained: “It’s right, because the journey we had from The Cult is Alive up until The Underground Resistance involved the way we recorded and where we were recording. We felt that, when we discussed after The Underground Resistance, the main focus was not really the riffs, but the arrangement of the songs because we could float out in a crazy little bubble. But, we thought that we might get it together and make it a bit more understandable. That was our thought. But again, we are again discussing things that we can and should do.”
He then revealed that the band has only had a handful of major “reset” conversations throughout its entire existence — and another one recently took place following Pre-Historic Metal.
“I mean, three times during Darkthrone’s life, we have discussed changes,” he said. “The obvious one was, of course, after Soulside Journey and Goatlord, and next was after The Underground Resistance. And we, now, for the third time, we had this chat again after Pre-Historic Metal. So we have some, we have some juicy plans for the next album that we will record in a couple of years time.”
According to Nocturno Culto, those plans involve stripping the music down even further and embracing a more primitive direction: “I was basically thinking about doing things very differently. Simplify it a bit more. Only having one guitar. We’ll see how it goes, because when you only record one guitar it changes a lot of things, like the way you write music. So, it will be more primitive. We have a plan. I think we are going to work towards it and see how it ends up.”
While discussing the future, Nocturno Culto also admitted that Darkthrone likely does not have many albums left ahead of them: “Because one thing is for sure and that is that we don’t know how many albums we have left. Is it one, is it three? Maybe at maximum? I don’t know. It’s difficult to say. But what is definitely for sure is that we are not going to release 20 more albums. So we’re talking about around three more albums maybe.”
Pre-Historic Metal was recorded at Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo, with production handled by Ole Øvstedal, Silje Høgevold, and Mads Luis. Mastering duties were completed by Jack Control at Enormous Door and Maor Appelbaum Mastering.
