Metal bands have a funny relationship with their past. Some spend years trying to escape it. Others have no problem digging through old influences or bringing familiar musicians back into the fold.
Darkthrone and Exodus approached that relationship from opposite directions. Darkthrone’s Arctic Thunder, released in 2016, found Fenriz and Nocturno Culto exploring the sounds that shaped their musical tastes. Exodus’s Blood In, Blood Out, released in 2014, reunited the California thrash veterans with Steve “Zetro” Souza after a decade away from the microphone.
Two albums, two anniversaries, and one interesting question: What actually makes a band sound like itself?
Darkthrone had already spent years moving between black metal, crust punk, doom, and traditional heavy metal. Arctic Thunder pulls those influences into eight tracks that sound like two musicians playing exactly what interests them.
“Tundra Leech” opens with a crawling guitar riff and Nocturno Culto stretching his gravelly vocals across the rhythm. The tempo eventually picks up, but the song keeps circling back to that slow, stubborn groove. Fenriz doesn’t overcrowd the arrangement with elaborate drumming. He follows the guitars, adds movement where necessary, and lets the riffs do their work.
“Burial Bliss” brings more traditional heavy metal into the equation. There’s an old-school swing to the guitar work, with melodic turns that sound connected to the underground records these guys have spent decades championing. “Inbred Vermin” gets nastier, moving between driving riffs and slower sections that allow the distortion to hang around a little longer.
Recorded at their old rehearsal space, Arctic Thunder has a coarse, relatively dry sound. The guitars have plenty of grit, the drums retain their natural character, and the bass largely blends into the overall guitar sound. Nobody seems particularly interested in cleaning up the rough edges.
Nocturno Culto also handles all the vocals, which gives the album a consistent personality despite its stylistic detours. His delivery is unmistakable, whether he’s dragging out a phrase or barking over a faster riff.
For a band so closely associated with Norwegian black metal, Darkthrone have never been particularly interested in staying inside that definition. Their musical tastes have always been wider than the label attached to them.
Exodus, meanwhile, had a different piece of their history to reconnect with.
Blood In, Blood Out brought Souza back alongside guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus, bassist Jack Gibson, and drummer Tom Hunting. His voice immediately changes the character of the material. That sharp, nasal snarl gives songs like “Collateral Damage” and “Body Harvest” a personality that would be difficult to mistake for another singer.
The guitars are equally recognizable. Holt and Altus fire through rapid picking patterns, sudden rhythmic changes, and tightly synchronized riffs. Hunting follows those shifts with precise double-kick work and quick fills, while Gibson reinforces the guitar rhythms underneath.
“Black 13” begins with an industrial-flavored introduction involving Dan the Automator before the band tears into its usual territory. The title track wastes little time getting underway, building around clipped guitar patterns and Hunting’s aggressive drumming. “Body Harvest” introduces a more pronounced groove, giving Souza room to work his phrasing around the rhythm.
There’s some familiar company too. Former Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett contributes a solo to “Salt the Wound,” while Testament vocalist Chuck Billy appears on “BTK.”
The production is another noticeable difference between the two records. Where Darkthrone leave plenty of dirt in the room, Exodus keep their instruments clearly separated. The guitars have definition, Hunting’s drums cut through the mix, and the leads remain distinct even when the arrangements get crowded.
Neither approach is particularly surprising once you know the musicians involved. That’s part of what makes the comparison interesting.
Darkthrone’s identity comes through Fenriz and Nocturno Culto’s shared musical obsessions, their playing habits, and their willingness to follow a riff wherever it takes them. Exodus have a different set of recognizable ingredients: Holt’s restless guitar writing, Hunting’s rhythmic attack, and Souza’s unmistakable voice.
So what makes a band sound like itself? These two albums suggest it’s the specific people making the music and the habits they’ve developed together. Arctic Thunder could draw from several decades of underground metal and still sound unmistakably like Darkthrone. Blood In, Blood Out could bring Souza back after ten years and immediately reconnect with a familiar part of Exodus’s character. The history matters, but you can hear exactly where it lives: in the riffs, the rhythms, and the voices.
Written by Rob Joncas for DeadNoteMedia.
Artist information and music courtesy of the band.
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