Diamonds & Rust: Darkthrone’s Panzerfaust Celebrates 30 Years Of Triumphant Gleaming

Pardon the somewhat philosophical question, but why do we yearn for artists to return to the familiar vision, or in this case, sound, that we often associate with the pinnacles of their careers? Now, that might sound counterintuitive. Of course, if it’s their peak, why wouldn’t we want more of the same? But the real question is this: Even if they churned out album after album after album in the same vein as their career high points, would the ACTUAL peaks be peaks? Would they hold the same value? Would we criticize them for lazy songwriting because it’s too close to their legacy works? I don’t know—just a few questions to ponder. 

Side note: I’m as guilty as anyone. I often sit and scream at the clouds, asking why Metallica can’t write another Ride the Lightning, instead subjecting us to 72 Seasons, St. Anger, and the Load/Reload saga. This installment of Diamonds & Rust may do me some good. 

Anyways, three of the greatest masterful three-peats in pop culture history: Metallica’s initial three-album run, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the 1996-1998 championship seasons by the Chicago Bulls.

The unholy trinity and arguably the greatest three-album run in black metal’s notorious four-decade-plus reign of the underground: A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Under a Funeral Moon, and Transilvanian Hunger. Forever set in stone as genre classics, it’s an enjoyable water cooler debate in the always-tolerant metal underground as to which album sits upon the dark throne. 

Of course, at this point, any Joe, Jerry, Terry, Carrie, or Lucifer who’s even dipped a toe into the waters of extreme music is, at minimum, familiar with Norway’s Darkthrone. The brainchild of Nocturno Culto and Fenriz, the Norwegians and metal connoisseurs were, like many of their peers, infatuated with the well-documented genre forefathers, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Venom, and so on. The unholy trinity sparked a new direction from the death metal-leaning debut Soulside Journey. While each encompasses a unique identity, 1995’s Panzerfaust is the band’s most “necro” album, as Fenriz puts it. The band continued to move in a rawer direction, famously recorded and written by Fenriz alone at home with Nocturno Culto, who eventually added the most barbaric vocals of his career. The rawness still influences countless bands, who record their records in studio apartments, basements, garages, or other less-than-ideal locations. This is true Norwegian black metal, brah brah. 

With all of that said, one of the sole failures of an artist is to create what you’re told to create—selling out, as we so eloquently put it. Whether or not you enjoy Darkthrone’s ventures into the various corners of metal subgenres—black, crust, doom, trad, etc.—it should be respected. After all, there’s nothing wrong with throwing some nods to the OGs. While Panzerfaust certainly wasn’t a complete departure from the prior efforts, perhaps in hindsight, it foreshadowed what was to come, not in a sonic sense, but in the sense of doing whatever the hell they want to do—probably a product of whatever the hell they’re jamming at the time. 

No one ever says, why don’t you play like Angel Witch or Saxon more? They always want a return to OUR old albums, but that is philosophically impossible, they really only want to rediscover again the first time they heard ‘Under a Funeral Moon,’ and that is ALSO impossible. But when I want ‘Bonded By Blood’ by Exodus, I go and listen once more to that album. I don’t sit and dream about Exodus making that album once more. Because if they DID get that exact same sound the riffs and songs would be different and you would still react as if it had changed a lot. It is philosophically invalid wishes. And especially has no root in reality. – Fenriz, in an interview with Last Rites, circa 2013

Panzerfaust is split quite evenly. Two super uptempo songs kick off each side, and the subsequent ones focus more on Celtic Frost-oriented riffing. “En Vind Av Sorg” and “Hans Siste Vinter” are continuations of the main “Transilvanian Hunger” riff. But instead of copying and pasting for Panzerfaust’s entirety, they pulled more hairs from the cloth of Celtic Frost—blending heavy metal and punk—than ever before. Nothing paints that picture like “Triumphant Gleam,” which is heavily intoxicated with Tom G. Warrior-inspired riffage. To this day, and throughout their discography, the influence of Celtic Frost is forever etched. But here on Panzerfaust, the worship is at an all-time high. 

You could turn the dial to “The Hordes of Nebulah” for much of the same. Fenriz sure loved the bends on that one, huh? It’s so simple, yet such a powerful tune—probably my favorite on the record. According to Fenriz’s commentary on the album’s deluxe edition, he and Nocturno Culto were hammered, and Ted, as he calls him (I’m not on a first-name basis, folks), refused vocal effects. Through the monitors, the raw power of Nocturno’s screeches legitimately shook the kitchen floor of Fenriz’s home. Again, the most barbaric vocals in Darkthrone’s history are on this record. Not to mention, the lyrics are just badass—literally.

Scent of (the) flying shadows

Are in the eyes of the vast Uranus

For these eyes have seen

The horses of the universe fade away

EYES OF THE VAST URANUS?!?!

Ok, moving right along. 

If the riffs weren’t enough, Darkthrone would replicate the bass tone from Morbid Tales on the record, specifically on “Beholding the Throne of Might.” You’ll have to take some time to dive into Fenriz’s commentary on the album’s deluxe edition for a full breakdown, but achieving the desired tone was quite the process. Speaking of that commentary, he also explains why Panzerfaust is the peak of the band’s insanity. They had neither a label nor substantial distribution and referred to the recording process as  “a void.“ Career-wise, Fenriz said that “things were looking pretty grim.“ Despite that, they continue chugging along, marching to the beat of their drum—many preach it, few practice it. Perhaps it would have been in their best interest to maintain the sounds of the unholy three. Still, they refused—just like they refused to continue marching into death metal following Soulside Journey, as Fenriz explains below:

What sparked the transition was the fact that we HAVE TO PLAY the kind of metal that interests us most at any given time—it just takes some time to move on the revolutions. Up to having made ‘Goatlord’ all our changes had been PROGRESSIVE, the regress started there and then in early 1991 when we let our ‘jazzy’ side go in favour of a brute side. I had already started tiring a bit of death metal in 1989, the underground was extremely full of it – and some bands started having too polished sound as well. I mean, I even thought the SECOND Carcass album had too commercial sound, hehe. Many examples there throughout 1989 and 1990 and onwards until the near death of DEATH metal, luckily saved by Autopsy and other organic heads, so in 1989 I started listening more to older stuff in my collection and lots of it sounded way darker. Plus we broadened our musical horizon continuously and believe it or not it felt refreshing to CONTAIN ourselves in our own project/band while we opened our heads in many ways. There was a lot of Black Sabbath and Motörhead listening as well in 1990, we even covered ‘Under the Sun.’

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the album’s stand-out track, “Quintessence.“ With arguably one of the greatest riffs in black metal history and lyrics famously (or infamously) written by Varg Vikernes, it may be their second most popular tune after “Transilvanian Hunger.” ’70s folk rock—with a little more fuzz, as Fenriz explains—and Viking metal in the legendary Bathory style—is the most anthemic Darkthrone song ever written. I remember it being one of the first songs to make me feel rageful, but in a cathartic way, almost like exercising demons in the woodlands. And even when I revisited the album in the days leading up to writing this, that build-up to the main riff kicking back in for the final time gave me chills. Oh, and there’s that loving nod to Uriah Heep on the kit.

Holistically, the formulas are simple on Panzerfaust, but the character bleeds through the speakers. That’s the true spirit of metal, friends. Darkthrone has always had a knack for that. 

In 2025, what I admire most about Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, aside from the obvious, is their unapologetic lust for the ’80s. Unsurprisingly, that hasn’t always struck a chord with fans. 

I can’t even cross the street without provoking someone, it seems. I don’t get it, I just try to spread the real metal all my life and that is so provoking? Granted, I know it’s annoying with change of styles always, but WE AS PEOPLE always change too and Darkthrone is like a science project proving that a band entity CAN change as the people change too. Only when I switch LPs on my turntables from first Obituary to the first Mötley Crüe, it takes longer time to change the style of songs and such, understand? Darkthrone will always mirror what kind of metal styles we are mostly into at any given moment, but moment…it takes time, changing album takes a second. Anyway, it seems our honesty and freedom provokes people. Ted has said that plain people will always be scared of FREEDOM and want to chase it like a village mob.

The fact is that Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have remained true to those words. Even if we laser-focus on their latest opus, It Beckons Us All…, comment sections and reviews echoed similar criticisms regarding the legacy metal and Celtic Frost influences. Have the Celtic Frost riffs and vocals not routinely popped up throughout their discography? As I mentioned, would a return to a straight-up black metal album make fans happy, or would they just compare it to their previous efforts? They’ll never be able to replicate what they captured in the ’90s. And that’s perfectly fine.

As the years go by, I may become more sentimental. I know I yapped about Metallica’s fall from grace earlier, but I am trying to change my ways. I’d rather cherish my memories with their classics than criticize them for not replicating the golden years. As for Darkthrone, they’re one of the few bands that I’ve enjoyed their entire discography. And the more I think about it, I wonder why Panzerfaust isn’t my favorite album by the Norwegian duo. But another part of me wonders why I even rank them at all. Does it even hold that much value? If I sit here and tell you that A Blaze in the Northern Sky is my number one, what good does that do me? 

I guess I rambled on here—in honor of the 30th anniversary of Panzerfaust—to say I have the utmost respect for Darkthrone for operating with tunnel vision. They’ve ignored outside criticism and trends and focused on staying true to their passions for three-plus decades. They do what they want, potentially leaving money and fans on the table. That’s the sole reason they won’t even play live…they don’t want to. Perhaps I could operate with that attitude more in my life, which would explain why I find their approach admirable. Or maybe I’m just over-analyzing it all (probably). 

Panzerfaust still sounds fresh in 2025. While that, in large part, is due to raw black metal still being so popular in the underground, there’s a passion within its bones that is timeless. While we all laud A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Under a Funeral Moon, and Transilvanian Hunger, Panzerfaust deserves equal acclaim. I’m unsure if that’s a bold statement, but I wholeheartedly believe it.

Eternal hails to Darkthrone. Eternal hails to Panzerfaust.