Once again, we hail eternally a new album from Norway's dynamic duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, their twenty-first since forming all the way back in 1987! And once again, the band have surpassed themselves in silliness, not with the cover art - a deliciously dark cosmic spider concoction courtesy of Zbigniew Bielak that is leaps and bounds above Astral Fortress' ice-skating model - but with that title, reflecting Eternal Hails and its eccentric extended ellipsis. It Beckons Us All (dot dot dot dot dot dot dot) uses that air of ominous understatement well in its music, continuing the path set out by the past few albums of doom-ridden blackened metal with synths. And if you liked them, you'll like this, the opening whooshing of Howling Primitive Colonies soon turning to slow, infectious riffing that's about as crusty as classic metal can get.

It's notably the most fun that this era of Darkthrone have been, certainly more entertaining than the previous album and with much better songwriting. Fans will be delighted with Eon 3, for instance, a continuation of the series with crunchy and repetitive yet enjoyable riffing, and some more pleasingly silly clean vocals from Fenriz. Black Dawn Affiliation is one of the best Darkthrone songs in a while, pushing the band's current doomy sound in a much more dark and atmospheric direction with riffs that simultaneously hit a steady, mid-paced catchiness. Around the mid point it becomes even more intense and atmospheric with terrific use of backing synths, mixing their classic metal worship with their roots as well if not better than anything they've done before.

The synthwork as a whole across the album is much superior to the previous album's, and this feels much more serious an album than Astral Fortress in so many ways; the following relatively brief And In That Moment I Knew The Answer is a potent little piece of instrumental metal that has more than a little Black Sabbath in its veins, mournful riffing and near-psychedelic synths keeping you gripped for the full three minute running time. It doesn't feel remotely throwaway or skippable despite being wedged between two longer, more epic in feel pieces, and shows that for all their high levels of productivity Darkthrone still treat their music as important.

The longer, more epic track that follows it, The Bird People of Nordland, has some of the best riffing on the album yet with a curiously croaky vocal performance from Senor Nocturno, perhaps the weakest element on a very strong album? (It seems too deliberate to be a sloppy mistake, designed to be an enhancement to the track's lyrics perhaps?) We even are gifted a return to classic Celtic Frost worship on The Heavy Hand, the pace being slowed a little more to allow those riffs to ring out enticingly. And ten minute finale The Lone Pines of the Lost Planet throws some prog into the mix to make for a more melodic and twisting journey to ride out the album, even before the 70s weirdness of strange chanting and running water effects. It's a fine ending to a fine release from Darkthrone, more than surpassing their previous album and arguably on the same level as Eternal Hails - "Doomthrone" has a lot of life left in it if the band feel like continuing down this black path.