Genre: Black Metal / Crust Punk / Doom / Trad Heavy Metal
Formed: 1986 – Kolbotn, Norway 🇳🇴
Known For: Changing black metal forever, then changing themselves every album after that.
⚰️ WHO THE HELVETE ARE DARKTHRONE?
Once upon a frosty time in the late ’80s, Darkthrone started as a death metal band with full blastbeats, guttural growls, and sick riffs. But when Fenriz (drums, everything-else-wizard) and Nocturno Culto (guitars, vocals, eternal grimness) embraced black metal’s icy fury, they dropped a trilogy so influential it’s basically biblical in corpsepainted circles.
Since then? They’ve refused to sit still — diving headfirst into punk, doom, speed metal, trad NWOBHM and more — all while maintaining the lo-fi, don’t-give-a-fk spirit that makes ‘em legends.**
They don’t tour. They don’t do interviews much. They don’t care about trends.
They are the trend (and they hate that).
🧙 THE 2-MAN FROSTBITTEN ARMY:
- Fenriz – Drums, songwriting, bass, rhythm guitar, vocals / Your favourite metalhead’s favourite metalhead. Also runs a sick postman route.
- Nocturno Culto – Guitars, vocals, bass / Gargled razor vocals. Wields riffs like a Viking with a vengeance.
💿 DISCOGRAPHY – 38 YEARS OF FROST, FIRE, AND F**K YOU ❄️🔥
💀 Soulside Journey (1991)
🎧 Cromlech, Sunrise Over Locus Mortis
Vibe: Death metal before the switch
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️
*Solid, but not what they’d become. The calm before the blizzard.
🌲 A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)
🎧 Kathaarian Life Code, In the Shadow of the Horns
Vibe: THE black metal turning point. Cold, raw, and iconic.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️
*This defined second wave black metal. A true classic.
🧊 Under a Funeral Moon (1993)
🎧 Summer of the Diabolical Holocaust, Unholy Black Metal
Vibe: Lo-fi, frost-covered, utterly evil.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️
*Bleakness turned up to 11. Cult status: achieved.
🌌 Transilvanian Hunger (1994)
🎧 Transilvanian Hunger, I En Hall Med Flesk Og Mjød
Vibe: Hypnotic, minimalist, raw to the bone.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️
*One riff per song? Works. “True Norwegian Black Metal” at its trvest.
☠️ Panzerfaust (1995)
🎧 Triumphant Gleam, Beholding the Throne of Might
Vibe: Darkthrone goes Celtic Frost mode.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
*Chunkier, doomier. Still black as night.
🔥 Total Death (1996)
🎧 Blasphemer, Blackwinged
Vibe: DIY chaos. Slightly overlooked.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️
*Raw and ready. Fenriz taking lyrical backseat this time.
🛠️ Ravishing Grimness (1999)
🎧 The Beast, To the Death (Under the King)
Vibe: Slow evolution into trad metal territory.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️
*Not black metal royalty – but still wicked.
🤘 The Cult Is Alive (2006)
🎧 Too Old Too Cold, Graveyard Slut
Vibe: CRUST. PUNK. RIFFS. Fk yes.**
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
*Black ‘n’ roll banger. Full reinvention, total success.
🛡️ F.O.A.D. (2007)
🎧 These Shores Are Damned, Fuck Off and Die
Vibe: Bathory meets Motorhead. Total carnage.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
*If Venom formed in Norway in the woods.
🏴 Dark Thrones and Black Flags (2008)
🎧 Hiking Metal Punks, Norway in September
Vibe: A bit silly, a bit serious, all metal.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
*Shoutout to every punk-metal nerd ever.
⚔️ The Underground Resistance (2013)
🎧 Leave No Cross Unturned, Valkyrie
Vibe: FULL EPIC TRAD METAL. Fenriz goes full Dio.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
*Unexpected? Yep. Awesome? Also yep.
🔮 Arctic Thunder (2016)
🎧 Boreal Fiends, Tundra Leech
Vibe: Back to darkness, with doom n’ crunch.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
*Cold, nasty, chunky as frozen stew.
☢️ Old Star (2019)
🎧 The Hardship of the Scots, Duke of Gloat
Vibe: Do you like Candlemass riffs under blast beats? Then you’re in.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
Slow, thick, evil. A cold cauldron of doom.**
💀 Eternal Hails…… (2021)
🎧 Hate Cloak, His Master’s Voice
Vibe: Cosmic doom-black fusion. Sludge from Saturn.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
*Lo-fi but massive. Fenriz goes full prog-wizard.
🔥 Astral Fortress (2022)
🎧 Caravan of Broken Ghosts, Stalagmite Necklace
Vibe: ***Lo-fi epicness with Skyrim-in-the-frostbite vibes.
Grim Rating: ☠️☠️☠️☠️
*Still weird. Still brilliant. Still very Darkthrone.
🎧 THE RIFF REPORT’S DARKTHRONE FROSTFIRE MIX:
🎸 In the Shadow of the Horns – Black metal’s sonic cathedral
🎸 Transilvanian Hunger – Minimalist, majestic, malevolent
🎸 Too Old Too Cold – Crusty, catchy, completely filthy
🎸 Leave No Cross Unturned – Trad metal banger from the abyss
🎸 Hate Cloak – Doom crawl of the gods
❄️ WHY DARKTHRONE ARE THE TRVE LORDS OF THE UNDERGROUND:
Because they:
- Shaped black metal, then flipped it off
- Release whatever the hell they want
- Refuse to tour, pose, or compromise
- Invented modern DIY metal ethos
- Still record like it’s 1991 in a cabin with one mic and a bad attitude
And because Fenriz is the coolest metal nerd alive.
🎤 FINAL VERDICT FROM THE RIFF REPORT:
**Darkthrone are eternal. They’re grim, grand, goofy, and glorious.
From screeching forest demons to Motorhead cosplayers to doom lords, they’ve ***done it all — and done it their way.
Want music that feels like frostbite to the soul?
Want black metal that never lost its middle finger?
Want the weirdest, realest, trvest band in Norway?
Then you ride with DARKTHRONE. Into the storm. Into the crypt. Into the forever night. ❄️🔥🖤
Michael is the founder, editor, and chief riff wrangler behind The Riff Report, an independent Welsh rock and metal publication built by fans, for fans. With a lifelong passion for loud guitars, unforgettable live shows, and the incredible community that surrounds rock and metal, he created The Riff Report to celebrate everything that makes the scene special—from legendary headline acts and grassroots venues to rising bands that deserve to be heard.
A familiar face at festivals across the UK, Michael spends much of the year covering events including Download Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Steelhouse Festival, Firevolt, Plumpton Revival, and many more. Whether he’s battling the Welsh weather on a mountainside, surviving a weekend in a muddy campsite, or squeezed against the front barrier with thousands of fellow fans, he’s always searching for the next great story to share.
As editor of The Riff Report, Michael writes festival guides, breaking news, album reviews, gig reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, nostalgia features, and behind-the-scenes stories from across the rock and metal world. His writing combines honest opinions, humour, and a genuine love for live music, bringing readers closer to the bands, festivals, venues, and people that keep the scene alive.
Michael is particularly passionate about supporting independent artists, local venues, charities, and the wider UK rock and metal community. He believes every band deserves a chance to be discovered and every festival has a story worth telling. Through The Riff Report, he aims to shine a spotlight on both the biggest names in rock and the future stars waiting to break through.
When he’s not writing or interviewing artists, you’ll probably find him exploring festival campsites, photographing live shows, chatting with fellow fans over a pint, or planning the next road trip in search of more riffs, bigger crowds, and unforgettable moments.
Above all, Michael believes rock and metal are about more than music—they’re about community, friendship, and creating memories that last a lifetime. That’s exactly what The Riff Report exists to celebrate.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Always chasing the next great riff. 🤘
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