Darkthrone is really leaning into the doom metal with their new single "Black Dawn Affiliation". The single chugs along, employs some creepy atmospheres toward the middle, and even offers up some spacey clean vocals toward the end.
"Nocturno Culto sculpted 'Black Dawn Afilliation' and as much as I writhe in woe trying to describe riffs I did not make, we are certainly rocking hard and dark around a dungeon of slow Kreator 1986-era riffs (think Awakening Of The Gods or 'Take Their Lives' from the Flag Of Hate 12")," said Darkthrone's Fenriz.
"The song is linearly constructed, which is bold for a single but we often write this way. One could say it is a two-pronged beast which after the intermission (filled with a choir of the damned that we sung ourselves, believe it or not: 'Aaaaaa.') continues with my favourite riff in the song since I first heard it appear early in the second part and it is there that I was given the reins to let the halls and chambers of stardust levitate with unearthly synth and a voice that still today, when writing this, strikes me as being influenced by the first rock album I heard back in 1973 – Morrison Hotel. Lyrics darker and more disturbed than ever solidify these halls now."
Darkthrone's Nocturno Culto adds: "It is not easy to describe the music you make, but for sure I will try…it's heavy! Everything worked out as I hoped for this track. Some things are just forged in the studio, like as Fenriz's excellent vocals at the end of the song; and the choir I wanted. Instead of just taking shortcuts, Fenriz and I recorded three vocal tracks each, and it was brilliantly mixed by Silje at Chaka Khan.
"There are many things one can say about riffs, but I make songs from a combination of a very methodical approach and happy accidents! And somewhere in the back of my head, it's most likely there is something affecting a lot of my decisions on little details that shapes the riffing."
Darkthrone's new album It Beckons Us All is out on April 26. It Beckons Us All was recorded in April and May 2023 at Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo, the same location used for the Eternal Hails and Astral Fortress albums, mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door, with artwork courtesy of Polish artist Zbigniew Bielak.
Pre-orders for It Beckons Us All are available here. So just how good is this record? Fenriz elaborated in a video: "For this album, when we were done recording it and mixing it, [Nocturno Culto] actually shook my hand afterward because he was so pleased. And I don't think we've ever shook hands since I met him for the first time in spring '88. So that says it!"
