DARKTHRONE release lyric video for 'Black Dawn Affiliation '
12-04-2024
With the highly anticipated launch of the new album ‘It Beckons Us All’ from the Norwegian black metal pioneers just two weeks away, Darkthrone have offered fans a glimpse of what is to come with the release of the track “Black Dawn Affiliation”.
The single release is accompanied by an animation created by Matthew Vickerstaff .
Watch the lyric video for “Black Dawn Affiliation” below.
Fenriz comments of the song’s creation “Nocturno Culto sculpted BLACK DAWN AFFILIATION 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”).
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.”
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.”
Watch the previously released album trailer below.
Never afraid to venture beyond the confines of the extreme metal template they were paramount in creating, there are moments on “It Beckons Us All” that will dazzle and surprise, as well as satisfy fans of old. Nocturno comments: “We recorded in the manner we always do, live, meaning drums and guitar, with another guitar added later. We found a new twist during this process that surely benefited this album. Fenriz did stellar clean vocals on several songs, and his way of thinking creatively made it so good. We also shared the bass work this time around. We added a lot of extra layers like solo guitars… it was just a cauldron of ideas. Instead of finding a plug-in or choir synth patch, we both recorded four vocal tracks each. DARKTHRONE is an ever-evolving band, as many should know by now, and this album is touching a bit into the heavy genre. I have no idea what genre we are, and have really not cared much about it, but I know for sure it’s metal.”
In that sense, “It Beckons Us All” is very much demonstrative of two visionaries at their world-commanding best. They know what works but more importantly they choose to grow, throwing every ounce of their hearts and souls into evolving the jaw-dropping whirlpool of noise that could only ever have come from their collective minds. There are clean guitars, clean vocals and less typical instruments thrown into the mix, but the approach, intent and ethos at the heart of their fearless artistry remains very much the same. This is music for dreamers who find themselves paralyzed by the contrasting beauty and ugliness in the world surrounding them. Never ones to appease the faint-hearted, DARKTHRONE are as real and human as it gets.
“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 are availble AT THIS LOCATION.
“It Beckons Us All” track listing
01. Howling Primitive Colonies [06:30]
02. Eon 3 [05:43]
03. Black Dawn Affiliation [06:11]
04. And In That Moment I Knew The Answer [03:17]
05. The Bird People Of Nordland [07:27]
06. The Heavy Hand [04:18]
07. The Lone Pines Of The Lost Planet [10:03]
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