Band:	Darkthrone
Album:	Old Star
Style:	Crust punk, Black metal, Heavy metal
Release date:	May 31, 2019
A review by:	nikarg

01. I Muffle Your Inner Choir
02. The Hardship Of The Scots
03. Old Star
04. Alp Man
05. Duke Of Gloat
06. The Key Is Inside The Wall

Whatever your opinion is on Darkthrone, you have to acknowledge that this duo only churns out music that they like listening to themselves. With Old Star they keep doing exactly that and, moreover, it seems they couldn't care less about common promotional practice, since no one had a copy of this album before its release for reviewing purposes.

Old Star is close in sound to Arctic Thunder (and far from their crust/punk-ish era), but it is overall a stronger release with more interesting songwriting and a lot more hooks. As Fenriz himself put it, "Old Star is the big brother of Arctic Thunder. More solid and with even better riffs". It also marks a welcome return to black and white cover artwork - and this one is absolutely stunning.

From the opener, "I Muffle Your Inner Choir", which gets things going with black metal energy that subsequently gives way to crushing doominess, to the fierce closer "The Key Is Inside The Wall", which plays the game of tension and release very convincingly, Darkthrone really sound like the are enjoying themselves more than they have for a long time. The title track is one of the most rewarding ones in the album, built upon slightly dissonant ground, paired with a malevolent -as well as catchy- melody halfway into the song, and sprinkled with some nice cymbal work from Fenriz. "Alp Man" takes its cues from '80s doom metal and many should find familiar Candlemass vibes in it.

As much as Old Star features some exciting and memorable riffs, it must be said that Darkthrone are at times guilty of severe plagiarism in this album. If you take the first two singles as examples, you will of course recognize in "The Hardship Of The Scots" one of the sexiest riffs in history, taken from AC/DC's "Let Me Put My Love Into You" and you will also clearly hear Mayhem's "Cursed In Eternity" in "The Duke Of Gloat". Darkthrone have crafted these two exceptional tracks by blending some of the magic that has inspired them throughout their career with their own nasty sound that has inspired hundreds of other bands. It's no secret that they haven't shied away for many years now from paying homage to their root influences, and in Old Star these influences are probably more blatantly and unashamedly revealed than ever before.

In a nutshell, Old Star is a slab of blackened and doom-laden heavy metal, and if you have heard the track "Snowfall" from 1988's A New Dimension demo, it gives you a good idea of what they are doing in this album. Those of you that haven't been impressed by Darkthrone's deep dive into the '80s shouldn't really bother with it. However, those that have welcomed the stylistic shift of the band are going to get some raw-produced, ugly-looking, stripped-down metal, with a sincere we-don't-give-a-fuck attitude exuding from its pores.

"Mankind dies
In a shroud of introvert mumbling"