Darkthrone has been a duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto since guitarist Zephyrous left the band in 1993. They have sought to remain outside the music mainstream. From 2006, their music strayed from the traditional black metal style and incorporated more elements of traditional heavy metal, punk, and speed metal, while more recent albums have also included doom metal.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkthrone
Studio albums
Soulside Journey (1990)
A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1991)
Under a Funeral Moon (1993)
Transilvanian Hunger (1994)
Panzerfaust (1995)
Goatlord (1996)
Total Death (1996)
Ravishing Grimness (1999)
Plaguewielder (2001)
Hate Them (2003)
Sardonic Wrath (2004)
The Cult Is Alive (2006)
F.O.A.D. (2007)
Dark Thrones and Black Flags (2008)
Circle the Wagons (2010)
The Underground Resistance (2013)
Arctic Thunder (2016)
Old Star (2019)
Eternal Hails...... (2021)
Astral Fortress (2022)
The Pagan Winter
Darkthrone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Summon thy unholy disciples
Trained for centuries to come.
Gather on the highest mountain
United by hatred;
The final superjoint ritual
This, the pagan winter
Candles hold the only light
Sextons hide in fear
For this eternal winter
A new god ruled the sky
The million hands of joy
Have something holy to burn
From the top of the world one could see
The white light servants flee
Engulfed in an infernal cyclone
Created by (our) blasphemy
Religious bodies crossed the sky
The vision was our wine
Roar of fire, feeble fools
Into the furnace fire
The lyrics of Darkthrone's "The Pagan Winter" evoke a powerful scene of a gathering of unholy disciples on a mountain, united by their hatred and performing the final superjoint ritual under the command of their horned master of endless time. The language used creates a sense of awe and fear, as the candles provide the only light amidst the darkness, and even the sextons (church officials) hide in fear. This is the pagan winter, kept for the obscure ones - a time when a new god ruled the sky and the million hands of joy had something holy to burn. The imagery is stark and vivid, as the top of the world provides a vantage point to see the white light servants flee, engulfed in an infernal cyclone created by the blasphemy of the unholy disciples. Religious bodies cross the sky, and their vision becomes the wine of the disciples, as they roar in the fire of the furnace.
Line by Line Meaning
Horned master of endless time
Addressing the powerful master of timeless existence
Summon thy unholy disciples
Calling upon the followers of evil to gather
Trained for centuries to come.
Prepared for generations in advance
Gather on the highest mountain
Convene at the peak of the highest mountain
United by hatred;
Joined together by their mutual loathing
The final superjoint ritual
The ultimate ceremony of joining
This, the pagan winter
Referring to this pagan season
Kept for the obscure (ones)
Reserved for the unknown
Candles hold the only light
The only source of light comes from the candles
Sextons hide in fear
Those in charge of interment are frightened
For this eternal winter
In preparation for this perpetual winter
A new god ruled the sky
A fresh deity governs the heavens
The million hands of joy
Countless joyous hands
Have something holy to burn
Are set on fire by something that is considered sacred
From the top of the world one could see
One could see from the summit of the world
The white light servants flee
Adherents of the white light are running away
Engulfed in an infernal cyclone
Consumed by a hellish maelstrom
Created by (our) blasphemy
Formed from our irreverent actions
Religious bodies crossed the sky
Religious figures pass through the sky
The vision was our wine
The sight stirs our soul
Roar of fire, feeble fools
The flame's roar, foolishly weak beings
Into the furnace fire
Tossed into the fiery furnace
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: IVAR ENGER, LEIF GYLVE NAGELL, TED ARVID SKJELLUM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chief Mangas
This song is inexplicably the most heaviest, darkest and most ambient in all of black metal music that Darkthrone has birthed up from the grounds of Hell!
Timmorrisjr
4:15 forward is just amazing. Darkthrone easily had the best, heaviest riffs out of the original second wave bands. Mayhem had the fast and evil sound, Burzum had the atmosphere, Emperor had the technicality, but Darkthrone had the heavy riffs.
NAPALMIZER
that riff is so fucking evil and amazing
Darth Revan
Yeah, this is what I like so much about the 90s scene. Nowadays black metal is very generic, but at that time, all these bands had their OWN style and even though they were all the same "genre", all these bands were so characteristic that it's literally impossible to confuse them with each other. That's what I miss soo much today.
Undead
Huge Celtic Frost influence on that riff! UGH!!!
enemieslist
2:19 blows your balls off having endured the pure glory of the rest of the album, it becomes entirely complete. a beautiful ending to an incredible fucking album.
cernunnos stag
This album is 30 years old now!!
Phil Boehm
The first riff combines darkness and madness perfectly.
somesh kadam
4:14
Those riffs are very Celtic Frost. Guess Darkthrone gave to salute to them before ending this album.
Locky Brah
4:25 that kick damn I love this fucking band!!!