There’s little that can be said of Darkthrone that has not already been said: They are black metal royalty; one of the most recognised, influential and enduringly popular bands in the movement’s history. Along with Mayhem and Burzum their early works have come to represent for many what Norwegian black metal – and, by extension, black metal as a whole – is, the band having birthed a distinctive sound and aesthetic that has done much to define the genre. 

Of course, while the sinister, icy and unholy recordings that make up the first part of their discography are milestones of second wave black metal, the last decade and a half has seen the band unambiguously distancing themselves from that world altogether. Retaining the stripped down and unfussy approach to songwriting – as well as a wilful disregard for outside opinions – Darkthrone have dug into metal from the 1980s (speed, doom, death, black, heavy, thrash… you name it) for inspiration, resulting in a sound that shares many attributes with their earlier works, yet at the same time bears a very different ambience.

Even within this context, 2016 album Arctic Thunder represented something of a break from the past, the band stepping away from the sound they had honed over the previous three albums, namely Dark Thrones And Black Flags (2008), Circle The Wagons (2010) and The Underground Resistance (2013). Around the release of Arctic Thunder Fenriz told this writer that he had consciously “sacrificed my need to sing [and create] those beautiful speed metal songs ala Sweden 1983-1985”, to instead make “slow heavy metal” – and that has indeed proved to be true.

The band’s most recent opus, Old Star, marks a definite continuation of this musical trajectory, certainly on the three songs written by Fenriz himself (‘The Hardship Of The Scots’, ‘Alp Man’ and ‘The Key Is Inside The Wall’). Interestingly those written by Nocturno Culto (‘I Muffle Your Inner Choir’, ‘Old Star’ and ‘Duke Of Gloat’) actually suggest a subtle nod to the black metal past, with faster tempos and even a bit of a ‘90s vibe.  Speaking to Nocturno on the phone (something of a rarity in fact, as Fenriz has long handled the lion’s share of Darkthrone interviews), we begin by discussing what the reaction to the new work has been – in retrospect, probably the wrong question to ask.

“[Laughing] Well I got a positive reaction from one person, but I don’t know what’s happening generally. We got a good review in a bad Norwegian newspaper, but that’s it, I didn’t had the time yet to look at what other people are saying. But it’s out there now, so what the hell what can I do? People will of course have different opinions as usual. It doesn’t really matter, but it’s always good when people like it of course.”

As band you have always given the distinct impression that you are wilfully isolated from the rest of the world and even the rest of the extreme/underground music scene…

“It’s like when we released A Blaze In The Northern Sky back in the day: I think it took at least five years before we realised the impact that the album had had because we were busy with everything else. We’re not very interested to know what people think of this album either. I think it’s good to have some feedback of course, because then you know what people like or dislike about the album, that’s always interesting, but it’s just for fun to know, because we don’t know what the next album will bring.”

Are you happy with the way the recording process went? 

“At least we are doing everything we think is okay. The recording process that we have will differ vastly from other bands, because it’s not easy [laughs], it’s kind of a hard process. We have very short – but very intense – recording sessions, and also we have to fight with everything sound-related, in terms of the acoustics and everything. I have been mainly doing all the recording for Darkthrone since 2005, so we are used to doing it that way, but I have to say, because of the messiness of this bomb shelter we are using, after the recording started I didn’t dare to listen to anything before a couple of months had passed, because there is something about this bomb shelter’s acoustics and the time pressures and so on. But it sounded very good, I was positively surprised, the guitar sound was exactly what I had in mind. We ran into some problems in the studio, so we had to record both bass and guitars directly into the studio and usually that gives a totally different sound. I used some kind of Danish stomp box that I have which actually saved the day, because it sounds awesome on the record.” 

So you record in a literal bomb shelter with portable recording equipment?

“Yes the [equipment] we have used since 2006’s The Cult Is Alive. The location is an old bomb shelter located below a garage place just outside of Oslo. That’s the place we rehearsed in during the late 80s, we even recorded some demos there, so it was strange to come back some years ago when we went to record Arctic Thunder. It was very nostalgic – it even smelled exactly the same as it did in the 80s, same bad air quality [laughs]. The sad thing is that we thought we were going to record more stuff there, but the people that are renting the garage want to shut it down as they think the air quality is not good enough, and they do not have the money to do anything about it. So we are out of there now and need to find somewhere else for the next album.”

It’s interesting that the two of you are writing the music completely separately and only presenting the songs to each other when they’re finished. It suggests both a degree of single-mindedness and also that you have a great deal of trust in each other’s tastes and decisions. 

“Yes that’s exactly it. It has happened in the past that we have had to choose songs that we have already recorded not to appear on an album – that has happened a couple of times, and then we are really serious in the discussion about what is the weakest song, you know? And then we just get rid of it. It has been quite some years since we did that though. But yes, we are always recording exactly what we are planning to do and when we meet we haven’t heard each other’s material, so I have to learn the guitar and he has to learn the drums. We’ve been playing together for so long that there should be no problem – we always make things the way we want it to be, and we try to put the overall sound together and we have to trust each other in that process, otherwise it would be very difficult.”

So it’s never a struggle creating new material?

“No not at all. And I think we will be the first ones to say to ourselves, you know, ‘We actually lost it’, and then we call it a day. But as long as we are on the track we are, we will keep going. We got very inspired actually when we recorded Arctic Thunder, because it was so different to The Underground Resistance. The Underground Resistance was in some sort of style that we felt we peaked with on that album. We couldn’t do that kind of thing any better so we thought, ‘Okay, let’s take it down and do more strict songwriting’, and we did and after that we recorded Old Star. We are even more keen to record another album, so there are things going on definitely.”

Fenriz has always been very passionate about celebrating and analysing music, both in terms of other bands and Darkthrone itself. His descriptions of your recordings go into almost obsessive detail, with comparisons to older bands, albums and even particular songs, making Darkthrone arguably one of the more self-referential and self-aware bands the metal genre. Do you share this trait and are you aware of specific influences surfacing in your own writing?

“Not at all. And I’m not interested either. When it comes to my own songwriting I don’t know what I base it upon, because for some years now I have had very little time to listen to music. But the inspiration comes from somewhere I guess, and that’s a ‘nothing and everything’ kind of thing. I do take it into consideration, because when I sit down and make music for Darkthrone it’s a very specific place to be for me. It’s not just coming a whole song, you know? You start to play around on the guitar, and then you have a riff, and you start to build on that to create a song, and so it goes. I have no idea where it comes from but with Fenriz’s [new] songs, I’ve seen people mention Accept and Iron Maiden, but I’m thinking more of all traditional heavy metal stuff from the 1980s and of course the influence that Celtic Frost has had upon us for years.”

Stylistically speaking, do you hear a big difference in the songs you write and the songs Fenriz is creating?

“This is also some sort of living organism; some albums we can kind of write more ‘equal’ songs, but this time round Fenriz was very keen to write in the style he did and I have to admit as a guitarist it’s really fun to play. I did lean more toward the black metal thing this time with my songs, I’m not sure why, but I started thinking that way on Arctic Thunder and I just wanted to stretch it a bit further I guess.”

It’s interesting how the band goes through these quite distinct album cycles. It seems like you both get into a certain zone and push that as far as you can before moving on.

“Yes that’s the way it is. We see a small path and we explore it, and then we try to see other paths that we will do better, and in the end we feel we can’t do it any better, so we do a different thing.”

You mention you have no time to listen to music or to people’s reactions to your music…

“…It’s other projects, work, you know the days go by really fast. I’m usually up around five or six in the morning, I have to deal with work and family and stuff like that. It’s a pretty ordinary life, that’s how we’ve been living all these years. I think it’s a good thing. I mean I hate being up in the morning that early but when everything comes to everything, I think it’s a good thing.”

I’m sure many fans would be surprised to learn that you are both still active with ‘normal jobs’ alongside the band activities. To what degree is Darkthrone a part of you making a living?

“Not very much actually, but since we’ve been doing this for 30 years it’s become a huge part of our life. Both a mental lifeline and something I need. It’s been a part of me since I was 16, so it’s difficult to imagine a life without it now. But above all I think when we got our own studio again in 2005 there was definitely a new energy born out of it because we could do things a bit more spontaneously. It felt like we were back to being a demo band again and that was nice - of course we were always doing things the way we wanted but after 2005 it was kind of an ‘anarchy situation’ in making the music and I like that. Of course we love music, that’s why we’re doing this.”

Black metal has expanded beyond all recognition from the days of the second wave explosion in the early 90s, and the Norwegian scene and artists like yourselves have become part of the wider metal story. Do you have a sense of how huge a name Darkthrone has become?

“Not really. I’m kind of disconnected there, but I know the interest for the band is definitely there. I mean we sell albums and everything is fine there. I mean both Fenriz and myself are now not on any social media platform, so we don’t have the chance to dig into what people think of us and the like. We get some reports from friends saying, ‘You got a great score for the album in this magazine’ and we say, ‘Okay, that’s good’, so I get a sense that an album has been well received.”

Personally speaking you’ve played live several times over the years, doing guest appearances with bands such as Satyricon and Enslaved. If Fenriz didn’t hate playing live as much as he does do you think the band would be more connected to the wider metal and music scene?

“Well you see I’m more of an introvert person, so for me playing live is a lot of hassle. I’m not looking forward to it and I struggle a bit with the whole thing. There’s a huge difference between making an album and doing live performances. They are two completely different things and I feel like playing live is a part of show business and I don’t belong there so…”

So there’s a conscious effort to avoid that world altogether?

“Yeah I guess so. I think day to day we are pretty… I mean I don’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘God, I’m playing in Darkthrone. I’m so cool, today I will wear my leather pants…’”

Well that’s good to hear… [both laugh]

“We are pretty normal guys but of course we have this Darkthrone thing in common, you know, not necessarily day-to-day, but we use a lot of time in making the music, planning, recording and so on. But I wouldn’t go round like some sort of cliché, some rock dude, that’s not my thing.”

Are you surprised that many of your peers from the early days became more integrated into the worlds of music and media, given the much more hostile and underground beginnings of black metal.

“I think for most people that would be a natural thing. I suspect that since Fenriz and myself came from some sort of hardcore punk place, I think we have this gene, you know, ‘Fuck everyone else’. I think that’s a part of what we’re about. If Fenriz was more keen to play live for a couple of years I would consider it, but there’s a lot of expectations and a lot of hassle and a lot of work and a lot of meetings… all I want to do is get up in the morning, take a hike on my bike or something. That’s my life.”

Obviously Darkthrone’s status as a duo has been a pretty defining characteristic of the band since 1993. Did you ever have any contact with the ex-members of the band?

“Nope. Not for some years. I did have some contact with our old guitarist Ivar [Enger / Zephyrous] some years ago. I don’t think he is making music now.”

A lot of bands your age invite old members back for a cameo – would you ever consider inviting your previous members to do a guest appearance or something similar?

“To be honest in 2005 or 2006 we wanted our old guitarist to come back to the band, and he was actually planning to – he got some equipment and started to practice – but then because of his work he had to amputate one finger and that was crucial for playing guitar. So that didn’t happen.”

That’s a shame, but it’s also quite obvious that the band today is built upon the strong chemistry between the two of you.

“The chemistry is great, nothing lacking there. I can see it continuing but it goes without saying that we will not last for 30 more years, so everything is uncertain and is getting more uncertain every year. But we have a new album in the making and we will try and record that late next year or early 2021, so that much is certain. But you never know what life brings.”

Interview: Dayal Patterson.  Photos: Ester Segarra.