_ _______ _ ...:... _ _______ _ ___ / .:::::::::::. \ ___ | / .. (:::::::::::::) .. \ | | . .:::::.`:::::::::::'.:::::. . | | .::.. `:::.::':::`::.:::' ..::. | _ _______ | .::' ::::':::::`:::: `::. | _______ _ \\ | | :: `' ::':`:: `' :: | | // \ | | `:. .::' . `::. .:' | | / . | | .::::::..::::' ... `::::..::::::. | | . | | `:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::' | | .... | | `:' `::::: :: :: :::::' `:' | | .... | ' | : `. ': :: :: :: :: :` .' : | ` | |.....: . .......: :: :: :: :: : ...... . : ....| . ...................: : :: :: :: :: : : ................. . _____________:_____________ _____________:_____________ _ ___\` __ /_\` _______/_\` __ _/_\` /___ _ // __ / (/ ___/ (/ _ (/ /_______/\ _ _ /_________ ___________ ______/\ _ ______________/\__/_ _ \\\\\_________\__/\_________\__/\_____/\_____/\____________/ /// - -\-\-----------\__/----------\__/-------\_____/---------------/-/- - - -------------------: : :. ..:: :: . :------------------ - : : :......: :: :` ': :: : .....: : : ___ _ | | : ` ' : | | _ ___ _\---------- : | -------- : B E R C : -------- | : ----------/_ /_\ . : . ..:.. ..:.. . : . /_\ /// . . : : . . \\\ /: :\ /:: Artist :: Darkthrone ::\ :: Album :: It Beckons Us All....... :: :: Year :: 2024 :: :: __ _ _ __ :: -:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:- :: \ / :: :: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CD . :: :: Label :: Metal Army R.date :: 2024-06-07 :: _::__ Cat.nr. :: ARMY 108 S.date :: 2024-04-26 __::_ ::// \\:: ::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\:: :: :: /: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\ ..: Bitrate :: avg. 269kbps :.. . Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo . . Size :: 87.74 MB . . . __ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __ .\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////. +/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+ /: . : : . :\ /:: ::\ :: 1. Howling Primitive Colonies 6:30 :: :: 2. Eon 3 5:43 :: :: 3. Black Dawn Affiliation 6:11 :: :: 4. And in That Moment I Knew the Answer 3:17 :: :: 5. The Bird People of Nordland 7:27 :: :: 6. The Heavy Hand 4:18 :: :: 7. The Lone Pines of the Lost Planet 10:04 :: :: :: :: :: :: ------- :: .. >> 43:30 .. __ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __ .\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////. +/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+ /: . : : . :\ /:: ::\ :: :: :: With Eternal Hails DARKTHRONE reached its new peak. :: :: Composition-wise, it was shockingly different than what the :: :: legendary duo had done before. A beautiful album. Then Astral :: :: Fortress was announced and my expectations were pretty high. :: :: However Astral Fortress turned out to be a pretty rushed album. :: :: Not bad, but a bit dull and not even close to Eternal Hails' :: :: uniqueness (and I am rather not talking about the kittens :: :: playing with the balls of wool in the artbook...). So when It :: :: Beckons Us All was mentioned for the first time I did not know :: :: whether to have some expectations or rather just accept the :: :: reality - DARKTHRONE releases a new album and that's pretty :: :: much it. Fortunately, I am glad that I can say that their new :: :: material is definitely better than Astral Fortress. Still not :: :: as good as Eternal Hails but still a very good album. In my :: :: opinion even better than Artic Thunder or Old Star. :: :: :: :: First of all, I think we all should finally admit one important :: :: thing. Nocturno Culto's vocals are not that good. Not anymore. :: :: Havent been good since, I dont know, The Underground :: :: Resistance? He feels so tired and (as if) not interested in the :: :: stuff at all. His vocals on Eternal Hails were a big surprise :: :: because they were different. However, this is already the :: :: second album released after Eternal Hails and he has not :: :: changed anything a bit. So this time around this singing style :: :: ain't surprising at all, it's just acceptance of the :: :: unchangeable: Nocturno Culto's vocals are a bit boring :: :: nowadays. Fine, we have dealt with him and now let's talk about :: :: the music. :: :: :: :: Music-wise I would describe It Beckons Us All as old school :: :: death metal. I am glad that finally there are no traces of :: :: heavy metal or thrash metal (ok, the ending part of "The Lone :: :: Pines of the Lost Planet" has some heavy metal riffing). This :: :: is a pure death metal album in a slow/middle tempo with :: :: non-death metal vocals. Whether we talk about the second half :: :: of "Howling Primitive Colonies", "Eon 3" or "The Bird People of :: :: Nordland", all those are pure death metal pieces. Regarding :: :: "Eon 3" I am glad that this song exists because after awful :: :: "Eon 2" on Astral Fortress, Soulside Journey's "Eon" finally :: :: gets a good sequel. "Eon 3" is much slower than "Eon 2". It's :: :: not even that technically advanced, however it is a pure :: :: rifforama with a more consistent songwriting. That is why I :: :: like it much better. Its super heavy ending totally gets me :: :: every time! :: :: :: :: With Eternal Hails DARKTHRONE wanted to bring a new direction :: :: for the band. They said they were not interested in fast and :: :: short songs anymore. Looking at Astral Fortress and It Beckons :: :: Us All we can say that they are not interested in long songs :: :: anymore as well. Even though composition-wise and mood-wise :: :: both successors are similar to Eternal Hails, the songs are :: :: with some exceptions much shorter. It is not a negative :: :: criticism, just some random facts. Out of the three latest :: :: records this one is the longest one. However it contains seven :: :: songs (Eternal Hails had only five songs). :: :: :: :: Also the duo fixes their poor attempt to compose an :: :: instrumental dungeon synth song on Astral Fortress ("Kolbotn, :: :: West of the Vast Forests") as their new instrumental song with :: :: a fateful name "And At That Moment I Knew The Answer" is a :: :: beautiful doom metal instrumental with cachy riffs. It's :: :: somehow short but sweet. If DARKTHRONE happens to compose an :: :: instrumental song in the future again, let it be like this one! :: :: However, the dreamy moments are immediately crushed by the :: :: dirty raw beginning of "The Bird People of Nordland". This is :: :: the second longest song on the album and it's a banger like :: :: hell! Its garage-like feeling is destroying and slayerish :: :: ending is killing. :: :: :: :: So that means this album can also be very melancholic. Whether :: :: you will be thinking about space, stars, something nice you :: :: experienced or whatnot, you will definitely find yourselves :: :: thinking while listening to the slow rhythms and hypnotic parts :: :: like those in "Howling Primitive Colonies" or "The Lone Pines :: :: of the Lost Planet". "The Lone Pines of the Lost Planet" is the :: :: longest song on the album and with its unorthodox songwriting :: :: and mood it is somewhat a continuation of Eternal Hails' Lost :: :: Arcane City of Uppσkra and Astral Fortress' The Sea Beneath the :: :: Seas of the Sea. A long song with a complex songwriting and :: :: some pretty unusual moments for a DARKTHRONE song. However "The :: :: Lone Pines of the Lost Planet" is just a "what it could have :: :: been if..." when I compare it to the mentioned songs in the :: :: previous sentence. It has the similar song structure but its :: :: middle part literally calls for a more interesting composition :: :: (there's something missing). Fortunately the Metallica-like :: :: ending riff sweeps potential bad taste on your tongue away. :: :: Still a very good attempt to compose a progressive metal song. :: :: I will not fogive DARKTHRONE one thing related to this song. :: :: After the sweet picking intro a beautiful catchy riff begins :: :: and after it stops it is never heard again! This is literally a :: :: crime... The riff is so good that if the song only had this one :: :: riff, it would have been a masterpiece! :: :: :: :: The last thing I would like to talk about is "The Heavy Hand". :: :: With its structure and no development it feels like a leftover :: :: from Astral Fortress. It has a killer riff here and there but :: :: when I compare this song to the rest of the songs on It Beckons :: :: Us All it just really pales in comparison. I think I would have :: :: scored this album a little higher hadn't this song been present :: :: here. But this song and not very interesting Culto's vocals are :: :: two really negative things about this album. :: :: :: :: I am glad that It Beckons Us All exists. After not that :: :: interesting previous album this one proves that DARKTHONE skill :: :: kicks ass. It proves that DARKTHRONE has still much to say and :: :: they are still able to please listeners' ears. Forget black :: :: metal, there is none. This is a death metal album. Period. Also :: :: I love the abstract album cover. It's very dark, very grim and :: :: there is still something new to find at each new look. :: :: :: :: . _ _ . :: \: :. \\ ___________ . ___________ // .: :/ __\____ :: ____ ___\ _ / BERC : 2024 \ _ /___ ____ :: ____/__ \\\f3! :: \\\ __ _/_________i_________\ /___/ /// :: cRO/// \ :: :\-\___________\_ ___ / _ _/___________/-/: :: / :: | . . _ _ _/ __/ . \_ _ _ . . | :: : :::::::: | | \\\\\/ _______\____|\ \///// | | :::::::: : :: | | -\-\/____/-------------\____\/-/- | | :: :: | | \ :|: / | | :: : : | . ` ::: ' . | : : . . | : ::: : | . . | :::....:::....::: | : ::::::::::::::::: : . :::''``:::''``::: . : ::: : . ::: . .:. :