Review: Darkthrone – Pre-Historic Metal

May 13, 2026

You’ve heard of OLD metal? Well, how about OLDER than that?!

It’s that time again, a new Darkthrone record! Joking mostly aside, Darkthrone are a fascinating entity in the world of metal; starting off as a death metal band, they became one of the pioneers of Norwegian black metal which gave them the standing they still maintain to this day. For a solid decade they were arguably the subgenre’s most ardent stalwarts, particularly in doing everything in their power to keep it raw, dirty and and as far away from the mainstream as possible, only to then out of nowhere start making blackened crust punk for a hot minute. Then came another radical swerve— for over a decade they’ve been making what in Fenriz’ own words can only be described as “old metal.”

It’s true that all bands who’ve been around for over three decades will change their sound in various ways, but what makes Darkthrone interesting aside from the aforementioned radical changes is how their current “era” is basically just Fenriz and Nocturno Culto grabbing their favorite ’70s and ’80s records, putting them in a blender and seeing what happens. Every Darkthrone record since 2013 has been basically a showcase of everything Fenriz and Nocturno love about metal music and culture: from classic speed and power, to proto-black, doom and even obscure prog, of all things. And in 2026, they’ve graced us yet again with the funnily but aptly-titled Pre-Historic Metal.

At this point in Fenriz’ and Nocturno Culto’s musical journey, they’ve completely settled in the school of Lemmy; that is, they’re just going to run with a very specific sound and have fun with it, and if you’re familiar with or enjoy late-period Darkthrone, you will definitely know the name of the game here—riffs, riffs and more riffs paired with primitive but hard-hitting drumming. This is a very guitar-centric and percussive album, and while this isn’t Transylvanian Hunger or even The Cult Is Alive, where Darkthrone really excel and still do best is making a good, beefy and catchy riff and drums that sound like drums regardless of their simplicity.

The one area that surprised me about this record is actually the vocals; while Nocturno Culto has always been the band’s lead vocalist, Fenriz has on occasion hopped on the mic to deliver vocals. Pre-Historic Metal holds the distinction of featuring Fenriz’ vocals in their most prominent capacity since 2013, and given how much this record leans into the doomy and more mid-pace crunch of late ’70s and early ’80s metal, he also brings King Diamond-inspired falsettos and high-pitch screaming to great effect, both in the “hell yeah” kind of way, but also in a very funny way. No disrespect to the guy—his vocal chops at 55 are impressive—but his various screams and grunts can be amusing in an endearing way because he’s 100% sincere and committed to the bit.

Getting into more specifics of the music, articulating Darkthrone’s later period music is difficult because despite their style being pretty straightforward and stripped down by design, there’s still a lot going on; this album feels stuffed with their various influences, ideas and preferences. The obvious ones are of course classic heavy metal inspired by Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep, doom metal inspired by Candlemass and Trouble, and the proto-black metal of Celtic Frost and Hellhamer, particularly their slower songs. There’s also a dash of prog rock, namely with how Darkthrone implements synthesizers. Granted, this isn’t some epic keyboard solo a la Rick Wakeman from Yes, the synths and effects are simply for texture and emphasis, but in keeping with the vintage ’80s sound they always try to maintain, when the synths do pop out they sound old, weathered and have a creepy and ominous vibe. In songs like “Siberian Thaw,” “The Dry Wells of Hell” and the instrumental “So I Marched to the Sunken Empire” the guitars and bass follow suit for some really nice, ethereal and ghostly melodies that serve as a good contrast with their distinct vintage, distorted crunch.Even with a sound so reverent of the olden days of metal and so far removed from their black metal roots, Darkthrone can still create a real sense of darkness.

If I had to sum up Darkthrone in one sentence, it would be “Darkthrone reminds me of everything great about metal,” not just the power and rebellious attitude, but also the cheesiness and ridiculousness and how honest it is in embracing the majestic grandeur with the raw dread and the unabashed fun. I can freely admit that Darkthrone scratches a very niche itch that I can accept isn’t to everyone’s liking, especially if you’re one of those purists who pretend like Darkthrone stopped making music after 2003. The one consistent through-line of Darkthrone is that Fenriz and Nocturno Culto will do whatever the hell they please for themselves first and foremost and maintain as much distance as humanly possible from the music industry and showbiz. For that reason, I’m always interested to see what they do next because I know for a fact their work is that of utmost sincerity and completely uncluttered from trends or fads, which makes them more legit as TRVE metalheads than anyone else.