Norwegian black metal? No, not anymore. Circle the Wagons is a new beginning for Darkthrone, a new decade and a total shift in style for the black and death metal pioneers. The band—which has recorded as the duo of Nocturno and Fenriz for several albums—put an end to its under-budget, primitive black metal sound with 2004’s Sardonic Wrath and later experimented with a crust-punk style. With Circle the Wagons, Darkthrone has reinvented itself with what I believe is a first in metal: a black metal band playing ‘80s hardcore punk music. Their song “I Am the Graves of the 80s”—one of the best here—says it all:

“I am the graves of the 80s
“I am the risen dead
“Destroy their modern metal
“And bang your fucking head”

And Circle the Wagons sounds just like that, an all-out war on modern metal. Think of the Misfits’ primitive riffs, attitude and horror-punk crossed with the sonic fury and overall lifelessness of Gorgoroth’s music. But instead of reliving old monster movies or relaying a certain message, Darkthrone is issuing a challenge to all of the other bands out there today—bands that claim to be true underground acts and go the extra mile to make their records purposely sound that way (The “overground,” as Fenriz states in the album’s bio.) The challenge is for any other to make a more true underground, honest, uncompromising and original album as Circle the Wagons. This is the whole meaning of the album’s title, for all the impostors to gather, protecting themselves from Darkthrone’s attack.

When issuing challenges and throwing around bold statements like this, it would be good to have a killer album to back it up and Darkthrone does. Circle the Wagons is everything the band claims it to be. It’s a record that relives the early beginning of ‘80s hardcore and metal, capturing the spirit and feel of that time and era, while pushing onward into an undiscovered realm.