Norwegian trailblazers Darkthrone premiere new single and lyric video »The Bird People Of Nordland«!
Darkthrone premiere a lyric video for the second single »The Bird People Of Nordland« taken from their forthcoming studio album, »It Beckons Us All«, set to be released this Friday, April 26th, 2024 via Peaceville Records.
Video by Matthew Vickerstaff.
Tracklist:
01. Howling Primitive Colonies
02. Eon 3
03. Black Dawn Affiliation
04. And In That Moment I Knew The Answer
05. The Bird People Of Nordland
06. The Heavy Hand
07. The Lone Pines Of The Lost Planet
Courtesy of Peaceville Records:
“This is Ted’s song so a bit hard for me to comment on it musically but I will tell you all what I think when I hear it:
First of we have a typical grim Ted riff for the verse, then he surprises with a catchy riff for the refrain AND THEN comes my fave part of the album; the post-refrain riff which sounds like Queensryche 1984 style and you can also hear how much we enjoy to play it! EXACTLY where I want to be! Could have played that riff for 8 minutes straight, haha! This loops again with the refrain again without singing and then back to Queensryche ’84. Then first riff again with my added harmony guitar playing on it, what our studio man Ole Øvstedal called “the Corleone part”.
A break arrives and then things are sped up (not faster than Yardbirds in 64, we are not an extreme metal band, more like MODERAT EPIC) which corresponds with a slower heavy metal riff where we also brought out the mellotrone if I remember correctly.
Then Ted bombs you with a final part, primitive d-beat thrash with a riff that sounds like Tom G Warrior made it and I also ordered Ted to lay on some hellish guitars. Anyway, I LIVE for that Queensrÿche ’84 riff, Ted!” ~ Fenriz
Photo by Ester Segarra
Ahead of the eagerly awaited new album »It Beckons Us All«, the band give fans a final tease of what is awaiting them with the release of the official video for »The Bird People Of Nordland«.
Whilst freely admitting the concept for the song, “Not a very metal subject, sorry!” Fenriz explains. “It’s about the EIDER bird and Nordland. Many years ago I saw a Norwegian documentary with the symbiotic relationship the coast people of Nordland had with the bird. They watched over the nests and in return could pick the eider for pillows clothing, warmth etc. So that is what the lyrics are about.”
Humble as ever Nocturno Culto states, “Well, AGAIN, talking about our music really blows or is very difficult, at least for me. Personally, music is a floating thing, and I am having a hard time to try to break it down. It’s metal, a bit of heavy/doom/black/thrash, that is Darkthrone now, mixing genres has been something we have done since »A Blaze In The Northern Sky«, and especially since 2005. And I am just looking forward on new material, new riffs and ideas.”
With a legacy of audial treasures spanning more than 35 years, and a fountain of creativity ever flowing, Darkthrone returns in 2024 with an epic odyssey boasting classic riffs and vintage sounding metal.
The seven track studio opus »It Beckons Us All« sees the longstanding duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto presenting an even more refined, challenging and diverse set of timeless anthems. The uncompromising trailblazers shift from the melodic to the sombre and atmospheric to blackened dirges emanating from Darkthrone’s unique riffing.
Set for release on Peaceville on 26th April 2024, the new tracks are an intense observation of the world around them – exciting and challenging the listener in equal measure, in the way only they can. Some of the riffs howl across a gallery of ice and snow while others crackle like a volcano awakening from its timeless slumber.
Recorded once again at Chaka Khan Studios in the band’s native Norway, »It Beckons Us All« was mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door, with artwork courtesy of Polish artist Zbigniew Bielak.
With an expansive catalogue consisting of a multitude of various genre classics, Darkthrone first arrived on the global stage with their atmospheric and technically accomplished death metal debut, »Soulside Journey« back in 1991, followed by the milestone in black metal that is »A Blaze In The Northern Sky« released the following year, after the intended second album »Goatlord« was essentially scrapped to make way for something more primitive, and paving the way for Darkthrone’s close association with the black metal genre over many years.
»It Beckons Us All« stands as one of the band’s most complete and vast works to date.
Pre-orders available now at darkthrone.lnk.to/beckons
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well