Darkthrone released Eternal Hails in 2021 and they're already back with a brand new record! Darkthrone has announced Astral Fortress for October 28, which they're describing as both vintage-sounding with its use of mellotron and synthesizer, and "seething with hell" in terms of lyrics. It's also Darkthrone, so I'm not sure why anyone would expect anything other than innovation rooted in evil.
"As usual, Ted makes music by playing himself and riffs just come to me," said Darkthrone's Fenriz. "I think since 2016's Arctic Thunder, we have mostly been inspired by our own back catalogue. I can hear many of my riffs eventually sounding like a plethora of bands but this seldom seems to correlate with what others hear. As you’ll know by now I never talk about the lyrics or the inspiration behind them and I would never want any lyrics that I like of others to be explained to me but I will tell you this, it is darker than ever, it is seething with hell."
Astral Fortress was recorded at Chaka Khan Studios in Oslo with Ole Øvstedal and Silje Høgevold, where Darkthrone also recorded the Eternal Hails album. Pre-orders for the album will be available on September 8.