Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance

The prime example of longevity in black metal, Darkthrone keeps marching on while the rest finished or just have gone quiet. The key for Darkthrone has got to be the reinvention they take with every few albums. Now Darkthrone takes it a step further in a more traditional sense with 'The Underground Resistance'. Once again, they show how it should be done.

The distinct Darkthrone feel is still there of course. The trashy production, the sick and dirty sound in Nocturno Culto's vocals. Those waves of raw distortion and those punchy drum beats. This time, crust is not the backbone, more like an old demo of 80s speed/thrash and heavy metal takes, but so damn good! And as usual, the riffs are in total command. They always know how to write a good catchy riff, simple or not, they always find a way to etch it in your mind. Even repeat the riffs like they do in 'Come Warfare, The Entire Doom' and 'Leave No Cross Unturned' and it never gets boring because it sounds so good.

But even this time, they feel more epic as the songs mentioned above will show you. But take the main melodic riff of 'Valkyrie' for example. I never thought Darkthrone would write a song that would likely have an entire audience humming along if they played live. Those lifting dual leads of 'The Ones You Leave Behind'. Even those echoing and screaming solos just work so well.

I have to say, I am beginning to like the songs that Fenriz does the vocals on more than the Nocturno ones. He just has this distinct feel to his vocals. It is not anything brilliant, but for this sound, it just works. I mean, his vocals on 'Valkyrie' would be laughable if it was anyone else, but he just has this force and absolutely no shame in how he sounds that it just makes the songs cool. I really like them on there and 'Leave No Cross Unturned'.

When you look at the directions Darkthrone take with their sound, it is interesting the way they are evolving. They took their style back 15 years about seven years ago with a more crust approach. Now they are taking their style back around 25 to 30 years  with speed, thrash and traditional metal and still evolving and sounding fresh. All this while a number of black metal bands still try to emulate their sound and style from 20 years ago and don't match up. Yep, Darkthrone still are the True Kings of Norway..

Ikil