Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emphasis on atmosphere. Artists often appear in corpse paint and adopt pseudonyms.
Darkthrone is a Norwegian extreme 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 Fenrir Nagell, better known as Fenriz, is a Norwegian musician, part-time music journalist and online radio host who is best known as being one half of the extreme metal duo Darkthrone, alongside Nocturno Culto. Although primarily a drummer and songwriter, he has also played bass, guitar and done 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. It contained the band's first 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.
Under a Funeral Moon is the third studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was recorded in June 1992 and released on 15 February 1993 by Peaceville Records. Written and recorded with the aim of creating 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.
Total Death is the sixth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was recorded in August and October 1995 at Ancient Specter Ruins and released in 1996 by Moonfog Productions.
Ravishing Grimness is the seventh studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 29 September 1999 by Moonfog Productions.
Plaguewielder is the eighth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 10 September 2001 by Moonfog Productions.
Hate Them is the ninth studio album by Norwegian black metal band, Darkthrone. It was released 10 March 2003 by Moonfog Productions. Like their subsequent release, Sardonic Wrath, the album had an electronic intro and outro created by Lars Sørensen from Red Harvest. The cover image was the work of Eric Syre from Thesyre, and incorporated images of the Sagrada Família Catholic church in Barcelona. In 2012, the album was reissued by Peaceville Records, including a bonus CD with audio commentary by the band.
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".
Ted Skjellum, also known by the stage name Nocturno Culto, is a Norwegian musician best known as the vocalist, lead guitarist, and partial bassist of the influential black metal band Darkthrone. He has been with the band since 1988. He is also the vocalist of the band Sarke, and has a solo project called Gift of Gods. He currently works in Norway as a school teacher, and has a son and a daughter. He has also released a documentary film called The Misanthrope in which he deals with black metal music and life in Norway.
Worship Him is the first full album from the Swiss heavy metal band Samael. Released in 1991, it was the first-ever release from Osmose Productions, an independent French metal label. Worship Him is considered a milestone in the development of second wave black metal.
Ritual. is the debut album by Czech black metal band Master's Hammer, initially released through independent label Monitor in 1991. It was later distributed elsewhere and re-released in CD format by Osmose Productions in 1994; Osmose's version contains two bonus tracks. Many tracks of the album were re-recorded from their 1990 demo tape The Fall of Idol.
Goatlord is a demo album by Norwegian band Darkthrone, released in 1996. The album was re-released by Peaceville Records in 2011, with new artwork approved by the band and a second disc containing commentary from Fenriz and Nocturno Culto.
Circle the Wagons is the 14th 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.
The Underground Resistance is the 15th studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 25 February 2013 by Peaceville Records.
The Wind of 666 Black Hearts is a compilation album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was announced via Darkthrone's official Facebook page on October 22, 2016 and released on November 25, 2016. The album is a collection of demos recorded in 1991 and 1992 at the band's rehearsal space in Vinterbro, Norway. The demos would later develop into songs on the band's first and second black metal albums A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Under a Funeral Moon.
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