Norwegian black metal institution DARKTHRONE today released their twentieth studio album Pre-Historic Metal via Peaceville Records. The record arrives as a milestone celebration: Fenriz and Nocturno Culto are marking forty years since they first formed the band under the name BLACK DEATH back in 1986.
The eight-track album delivers a vast odyssey through thrash, black, heavy, and doom metal — a deliberate homage to the raw, instinctive writing methods the duo employed in the late 1980s, executed with the craft and authority only decades of experience can provide. Recorded at Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo with production by Ole Øvstedal, Silje Høgevold, and Mads Luis, the record was mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door and Maor Appelbaum Mastering.
Fenriz described the concept simply: "Prehistoric is a loose term. I just figure it's our vibe, our take on things." That typically understated explanation masks an album of genuine power — one that opens with "They Found One Of My Graves" and closes with the atmospheric "Eon 4," taking listeners through tracks like "Siberian Thaw," "The Dry Wells Of Hell," and the crushing title cut.
The announcement followed the 2025 release of The Fist In The Face Of God box set, which documented the band's revered early black metal era. With Pre-Historic Metal, DARKTHRONE reaffirm their position as one of metal's most consistently vital forces, beholden to no trend and answerable only to their own ancient, uncompromising vision.
Track listing:
1. They Found One Of My Graves
2. Pre-Historic Metal
3. Siberian Thaw
4. Deeply Rooted
5. The Dry Wells Of Hell
6. So I Marched To The Sunken Empire
7. Eat Eat Eat Your Pride
8. Eon 4