DARKTHRONE – Pre-Historic Metal

vote
6.5

• Bands:
  DARKTHRONE
• Duration: 00:41:03
• Available from: 05/08/2026
• Label:

• Peaceville

For those who read us regularly, our thoughts on Darkthrone are no mystery: an almost messianic reference, but one towards which we cannot hide doubts and perplexities; sure to repeat ourselves, beyond the specific rating of the latest albums, there is no doubt that for years it has been difficult to understand whether “they are there or they are making us”, and therefore to separate the wheat from the chaff, between brilliant and misunderstood ideas, indifference, or even taken for a ride.

“Pre-Historic Metal”, which probably still deserves the purchase for the most brilliant cover of recent years, musically is placed halfway between the most obvious missteps (read: “Astral Fortress”) and the good things, in our opinion, Ted and Gylve have been able to propose in recent times. Let's try to tell you a little about these eight songs, then.
The opener and second single “They Found One Of My Graves” starts off well, with an exhilarating riff that would have been great in “The Underground Resistance”, perhaps the last album not subject to divisive criticism in Darkthrone's discography; of course, the bridge and chorus are less memorable than in 2013 and, alas, the theme of recent years returns to the somewhat sloppy length of the songs. A similar statement applies to the title track, whose growing and ignorant fury, however, gives something more. Already at this point, it is right to underline an element of certain merit of the album, namely the return to the voice of Fenriz, who, without taking anything away from the distinctive vocal timbre of Nocturno Culto, with his expressive follies offers character to otherwise discreet songs.

And precisely, after the first two tracks, the duo relies on automatic pilot: “Siberian Thaw” and “Deeply Rooted” we could define as two standard examples of today's Darkthrone, with those midtempos à la “Tundra Leech” which now become harmless repetition to the ears, certainly not graced by the production. The first track tries to break the verbosity with a slower and more atmospheric insert, pleasant in itself, but stuck to the rest without much homogeneity. And the same sensation will return at times later. “The Dry Wells Of Hell” and “Eat Eat Eat Your Pride” bring back to the foreground what Fenriz and Nocturno Culto were doing about fifteen years ago, between the pure raw wildness of “Circle The Wagons” and the retro-thrash approach of the aforementioned “The Underground Resistance”: driving these songs are two beautiful raw but incisive riffs, dirty and sick vocal lines, just the right amount; unfortunately, in the first case, we get a little lost between the overall length and a central interlude that refers to what was said above. Between the two, the instrumental “So I Marched To The Sunken Empire” confirms what Darkthrone have been doing best in the last five years: the atmospheres between Lovecraft and Tales from the Crypt guided by the moog and sonic expansions. Finally, “Eon 4”: yet another variation on the theme is objectively a test for the most hardcore fans. The epic/doom approach adds nothing and transforms nostalgia into a stink of professionalism.

What can I say, anyway? In 2026, you don't need a review to convince you to listen to a Darkthrone album or not: if you're a fan, the physical copy will have already arrived at your home, if you're a detractor, it won't be “Pre-Historic Metal” that will make you (re)fall in love with it. But if we can find the right balance between the two positions, it is a record that can be listened to without expectations or too many comparisons, with half of the songs decidedly above the recent average (not just them).