Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leading bands in the Norwegian black metal scene.
Gylve Fenris Nagell, known professionally as Fenriz, is a Norwegian musician, part-time music journalist and online radio host who is best known as being one half of the black metal duo Darkthrone, alongside Nocturno Culto. Although primarily a drummer and songwriter, he has also played bass and guitar and performed vocals for Darkthrone and several other metal bands. Fenriz is famed for his encyclopedic knowledge of metal music, his eager promotion of underground bands and the DIY ethic, and his rejection of the "showbiz side of the music industry". Fenriz was also the studio drummer for doom metal band Valhall, and has had several solo projects, including the folk black metal project Isengard and the dark ambient project Neptune Towers.
Soulside Journey is the first studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 13 January 1991 by Peaceville Records. It is notable as the band's only death metal album, before they became an integral part of the Norwegian black metal scene.
A Blaze in the Northern Sky is the second studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was recorded at Creative Studios in August 1991 and released on 26 February 1992 by Peaceville Records. Apart from earlier rehearsal recordings between March 1991 and the Norwegian summer holidays the record contained the band's first official black metal recordings and is considered a classic within the genre. It was the first album of what fans dub the "Unholy Trinity", the other albums being Under a Funeral Moon and Transilvanian Hunger. It was the last album to feature bassist Dag Nilsen. In 2020, the album was put on the National Library of Norway's permanent exhibition due to its significance to Norwegian culture and as a starting point for Norwegian black metal.
Under a Funeral Moon is the third studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was recorded in June 1992 and released on 15 February 1993 by Peaceville Records. Written and recorded to create a "pure black metal album", it is the second of what is dubbed the band's "Unholy Trinity", along with A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Transilvanian Hunger. Under a Funeral Moon was the last album on which guitarist Zephyrous performed; he left the band shortly after its release.
Transilvanian Hunger is the fourth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 17 February 1994 by Peaceville Records.
Panzerfaust is the fifth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone, released in June 1995 by Moonfog Productions (Europe) and The End Records. The track "Quintessence" featured lyrics by Varg Vikernes, their second and final album to do so. As with the previous album Transilvanian Hunger, all instruments on Panzerfaust were recorded solely by Fenriz on a 4-track recorder set up in his bedroom ; with Nocturno Culto performing vocals on all songs except for the outro.
Sardonic Wrath is the 10th studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 6 September 2004 by Moonfog Productions, and was the band's last album on that record label. It was also Darkthrone's last album recorded solely in the black metal style, with subsequent albums featuring stronger punk traits. However, Einar Sjursø observed in Terrorizer that "even if there is a certain punk attitude to the odd riff here and there" it is a case of "the diabolic duo [Fenriz and Nocturno Culto]...simply drawing more influences into the Darkthrone melting pot, turning them into crystalline Darkthrone riffs".
The Return…… is the second studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It was released on 27 May 1985, through Black Mark in Sweden and Combat Records in the US. The Return…… had a significant influence on developing the black metal and death metal genres.
The Dawn of the Black Hearts is a bootleg live album by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. The title originates from a line of lyrics Fenriz of Darkthrone wrote for the band.
The Neptunes Present... Clones is a compilation album produced and released by American production and songwriting duo The Neptunes. It was released on August 19, 2003 and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. The album featured six singles; "Frontin'" by Pharrell Williams, "Popular Thug" by Kelis, "Light Your Ass on Fire" by Busta Rhymes, “Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Fam-Lay, "Hot Damn" by Clipse and "It Blows My Mind" by Snoop Dogg.
Neptune Towers was a dark ambient side project formed in 1993 by Fenriz of Darkthrone. He released two albums under this name, Caravans to Empire Algol (1994) and Transmissions from Empire Algol (1995), both issued by Moonfog Productions. Fenriz began recording a third Neptune Towers album, Space Lab, in 1994, but it was not finished. Both albums were reissued by Peaceville Records in 2012, with excerpts from Space Lab appended to Transmissions from Empire Algol.
Isengard is a solo project of Fenriz, the drummer of Darkthrone, created in 1989.
The Cult Is Alive is the 11th studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 27 February 2006 by Peaceville Records. This album represented a shift in the band's style, as they incorporated more punk and crust punk traits. Drummer Fenriz stated, "Call it black metal or evil rock, I don't care..."
Moonfog Productions is a Norwegian record label, founded by Satyricon frontman Satyr and Tormod Opedal. The label was established unofficially in 1992 and released its first record in 1994. The label specialized in black metal and other genres when such were the musical projects of the artists from the main roster.
Goatlord is a demo album by Norwegian band Darkthrone, released in 1996. The album was re-released by Peaceville Records in 2011, with a bonus track and new artwork approved by the band and a second disc containing commentary from Fenriz and Nocturno Culto.
Frostland Tapes is a compilation album by the Norwegian black metal band, Darkthrone. It was released through Peaceville Records on 23 June 2008.
Transmissions from Empire Algol is the second and final studio album by the Norwegian dark ambient project Neptune Towers, a similar-sounding follow-up to 1994's Caravans to Empire Algol, expanding on the same concept. It was released in 1995 by Moonfog Productions. Excerpts from the unreleased third album Space Lab were included within a 2012 Peaceville reissue of the album.
Circle the Wagons is the fourteenth studio album by the Norwegian band Darkthrone. The album was released 5 April 2010 by Peaceville Records. Fenriz, the band's drummer, described the music as Darkthrone's "own brand of heavy metal/speed metal-punk", and declared it a further shift from their old black metal style. About half of the album was written by Fenriz and half by Nocturno Culto.
"Burnin' Up" is a song by American singer Faith Evans featuring rapper Loon. It was composed by Evans, Loon, Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams for her third studio album Faithfully (2001), with production helmed by Hugo and Williams under their production moniker The Neptunes. A dance-inducing, beat-heavy uptempo song, "Burnin' Up" falls in line with the straightforward drums, guitar strumming, and clavichord worship of the duo's early years as producers. Lyrically, it has Evans pleading with a man she feels is destined to be her soulmate to recognize that they belong together.
