Darkthrone Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Darkthrone are a well known and influential black metal band. They began playing death metal but moved to black metal starting with their second album and has remained rooted there since. Fenriz and Nocturno have been the only two consistent members and after the third album have been the only members. Fenriz originally was the main vocalist but that got passed to Nocturno. Him and Fenriz both write guitar parts. Fenriz is the lyricist and drummer and keyboardist where as Nocturno is on guitar and bass and the main vocalist. Zephyrous was on guitar for the first three albums and Dag Nilsen was the bassist for the first album. All members contributed to writing.

Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Fenriz said they was listening to them more around the time of doing their first album. He said that Mob Rules was an inspiration for Arctic Thunder. He also names Vinny Appice as an influence.

Uriah Heep are an important progressive rock and early heavy metal band. Fenriz has been a fan since he was a kid.

ZZ Top are a well known hard blues rock band. Nocturno named Billy Gibbons as one of his favorite guitarists.

Motorhead are hard rock and heavy metal legends. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Girlschool were an all women NWOBHM band. Fenriz said they inspired his drum sound on Hate Them.

Iron Maiden are one of the biggest and most influential metal bands. Fenriz is a fan and has written riffs that he said accidently sounded like Maiden.

Metallica are fathers of thrash. Fenriz named them as an influence. He says their slower stuff has always been an influence to him.

Exodus are one of the earliest formed bands to play thrash and are thrash legends. They have been an influence on Fenriz and he often brings up their first album. He says he’s drawn influence from their “slow thrash” style.

English Dogs were a hardcore and crossover band. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Naplam Death are one of the most influential grindcore bands. Fenriz said Darktrhone had a tiny amount of vocal influence from them.

Hellhammer was super important for extreme metal genres and eventually became Celtic Frost. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Queensryche are huge for the development of progressive metal. Fenriz said Geoff Tate influenced his high range.

Crumbsuckers were a crossover thrash band. Fenriz said a small amount of influence from their second album was in early Darkthrone.

Slayer are one of the biggest must influential of the thrash bands. Fenriz said they was a huge influence for him.

Dark Angel were a big thrash band in the more underground scene. Fenriz is a big fan.

Celtic Frost are one of the most influential bands to extreme metal genres. Fenriz said when he formed the early version of Darkthrone, Black Death, he was focused on sounding like Celtic Frost and that they were a huge influence for him. CF are one of the only bands named by Nocturno.

Bathory are the fathers of the 90’s black metal sound. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Nemesis may not be well known, but you probably know them after they changed the named to Candlemass. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Death are considered the fathers of death metal by many. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Necrophagia are death metal pioneers that almost never get the credit they deserve. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Possessed took thrash to the next level and many consider them fathers of death metal, although from a modern perspective their sound is most often considered Death/Thrash. Fenriz said the vocals on Beyond the Gates are one of his all time favorites and named them as an influence for their first album.

Repulsion are an important grindcore / death metal band. Fenriz is a fan.

Although you will see Agent Steel listed as power and speed metal, their early albums are primarily thrash metal with Geoff Tate style vocals. Fenriz named John Cyriis as an influence on his high range.

Sacrilege were a thrash and later doom band from the UK. Fenriz said their album Within the Prophecy was an inspiration for Arctic Thunder.

Helloween are considered the fathers of pawer metal by many. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Savage Grace were a speed / traditional metal band sometimes called power metal. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Kreator are an important big German thrash band. Fenriz is a big fan, having an Endless Pain back patch and naming one of their albums Total Death inspired by Kreator.

Testament are bay area thrash legends. Fenriz named them as one of their thrash influences despite him saying he’s only written one thrash song.

Death Strike were an early death metal bands with their first demo in 85 although their first album wouldn’t come till 91. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Candlemass are an important Doom band. Fenriz named them as an influence and said their first album was an inspiration for Arctic Thunder.

Pentagram formed back in the 70’s but didn’t release much until they started playing doom in the 80’s. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Mayhem are among the most infamous black metal bands. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Vomit were a Norwegian death metal band that released a hand full of demos. Fenriz named them as an influence.

Sarcófago are Brazilian extreme metal. Fenriz says they were one of the few black metal bands at the time and names them along with the other few as an influence.

Morbid Angel are an important and influential death metal band. Fenriz said they were an inspiration for their first album.

Massacre are another Florida death metal band. Fenriz said their second demo was an inspiration for the first album.

Sadus are a technical thrash band. Fenriz named them as an influence for their first album.

Originally just Coven, those guys were a heavy rock/metal with a doom and goth elements. Fenriz said some of his vocal style came from them.

Dream Death blended doom, thrash and some death sounding much like Celtic Frost. Fenrez said their first album was an intentional inspiration going into Arctic Thunder.

Autopsy are an influential death metal band. Fenriz named them as an influence for their early death metal sound.

Nocturnus are a technical death band. Fenriz said their first album took inspiration from their second demo.

Nihilist might not be a super recognizable name, but you will probably know them by their later name Entombed. Fenriz named them as an influence on their first album.

Absecss is a punky death metal band with members of Autopsy. Fenriz name them as an influence.

Lifeless Dark are a new underground band that put out a demo in 2018. Fenriz said they inspired a riff for “Hardship of the Scots” He said they likely was inspired by Bolt Thrower who were inspired by Metallica.

Fenriz said crossover/thrash band Cryptic Slaughter made him realize he didn’t have to be an expert to start a band and then started Black Death. He said starting in 1989 he really started letting himself listen to a wider array of music giving examples of Lebanese singer Fairuz as well as techno, house, and trance.

When asked what heavy metal was, Fenriz said just listen to the A-side of Metal Church’s first album.

For Fenriz’s solog project Isengard, he name specific band she wanted to use influence from as Nihilist, Morbid Angel, Autopsy, Necrophagia, Solitude Aeturnus, the first Immolation demo, and Candlemass. He also said he was inspired by Bathory’s Hammerheart, and Twilight of the Gods. He named Angel Ripper of Sodom as one of his favorite black metal vocalists and said the influence can be heard on the songs he did with Aura Noir but they never had Sodom inspired parts in Darkthrone.

Fenriz is a huge metal fan of many things he didn’t name as an influence; he put together an extensive list of important songs and some of his favorites here and also here.

Fenriz said the line “Into the Abyss I Fall” on their first album was a homage to the German death/thrash band Poison.

Nocturno hasn’t named influences that I’m aware besides of Celtic Frost, although he did name ZZ top guitarist Billy Gibbons as a favorite.

Zephyrous was on guitar for the first three albums. I’m unsure of his influences.

Dag was the bassist for the first album, I’m unsure of his influences.

Bands influenced by Darkthrone!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

Black metal in a progressive direction.

Sources:

https://www.kerrang.com/features/the-evolution-of-darkthrone-in-the-words-of-fenriz/
https://yourlastrites.com/2013/03/06/dissecting-the-resistance-an-interview-with-fenriz-of-darkthrone/
http://musicandriots.com/still-downright-essential-our-interview-with-fenriz-of-darkthrone/
https://consequence.net/2019/06/darkthrone-fenriz-interview-2019/
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2012/01/25/fenriz-isengard-darkthrone-interviewed/
http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/musicians/fenriz-darkthrone.htm
https://bravewords.com/news/darkthrones-fenriz-discusses-slayer-corpsepaint-and-the-evils-of-compression-extended-2013-metal-evolution-video-with-new-directors-commentary
http://www.radiometal.com/article/fenriz-darkthrone-the-apostle-of-the-old-sound,95650
https://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2013/04/12/fenriz-of-darkthrone-the-heavy-blog-is-heavy-interview/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Metal/comments/fuwo5j/interview_with_darkthrones_fenriz_on_the/
http://www.wormwoodchronicles.net/interviews/fenriz
https://m.facebook.com/101075189934422/photos/a.866527693389164/4451702374871660/?type=3&source=48
https://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/threads/fenriz-historical-documentation.176742/
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/darkthrones-nocturno-culto-i-would-like-metallica-to-record-on-our-equipment-what-would-they-do-to-express-themselves-through-that-gear
https://www.revolvermag.com/music/darkthrones-fenriz-picks-5-most-influential-doom-metal-albums#black-sabbath-mob-rules-1981
https://thisisblackmetal.com/interview-darkthrone/

Enslaved Family Tree

Metal Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Enslaved start as a black metal band / viking metal band but over the years has ventured into more progressive metal. Since the beginning Grutle Kjellson has been on bass and vocals and Ivar Bjørnson has been on guitar and keys as well as backing vocals. The first album was entirely written by Ivar and the second and third split more evenly between them. After that point though Ivar would write the vast majority of the music with other members contributing here and there on occasion. Richard "Roy" Kronheim was on guitar for three albums and contributed to writing during that time. Other members of Enslaved have either contributed very little to writing or none at all.

Steve Reich

Steve Reich is a minimalist composer. Ivar draws inspiration from him.

PInk Floyd are perhaps the most well known of the progressive rock bands. Ivar talks about being obsessed with them after his dad get him a collection of their records.

Deep Purple was an important hard rock and early heavy metal band. Grutle named them as an influence.

Yes were a progressive rock band. Ivar named them as one of their progressive influences.

Genesis, before getting more poppy, were a hugely influential progressive rock band. Ivar named them as one of their progressive influences.

King Crimson are another hugely influential progressive band. Ivar named them as an especially important progressive influences on them.

Van der Graaf Generator are another progressive rock band. This time Grutle names them as an influence.

Led Zeppelin are one of the earliest and most important hard rock bands. Ivar said that Grutle is a huge fan.

Tangerine Dream were and electronic band. Ivar named them and keyboardist Klaus Schulze as an influence.

Klaus Schulze

Klaus Schulze played keyboards in several bands and solo. Ivar named him as an influence.

Rush unlike a lot of the progressive rock bands on this list came out later and was more of the 70’s hard rock scene instead of the 60’s rock. Ivar named them as one of their progressive influences.

Kiss are one of the biggest American hard rock bands They was one of the firs bands Grutle got into and was an influence on him.

Motorhead are an important hard rock / heavy metal classic. Ivar when said Motorhead were high on the list of band that influenced them.

Few bands have been as influential as Iron Maiden. Grutle names them as an influence.

Venom are the band that first inspired and coined the term Black Metal. Grutle named them as one of his biggest inffluences.

Mercyful Fate were a big influence on the black metal genre mostly due to their lyrics and image where musically they sound way more traditional. Grutle named them as a big influence.

Sodom are are considered part of the first wave style black metal but went on to be one of the big German thrash bands. Ivar named them as an influence.

Metallica are the fathers of thrash. Grutle named them as an influence.

Slayer were one of the most aggressive thrash metal bands. Grutle named them as an influence.

Celtic Frost was a very important band for both the death and black metal genre. Ivar and Grutle named them as an early influence on Enslaved.

Bathory can be considered the first black metal band as it is known today. Ivar and Grutle named them as an early influence on Enslaved. Ivar says they continue to be one of the core influences on he band.

Destruction are a big German thrash band. Ivar named them as an influence.

Kreator are on of the big German thrash bands. Ivar named them as an influence.

Mayhem are one of the earliest and most infamous black metal bands. Grutle named them as an early influence on Enslaved. Ivar also talks about Euronymous guiding them to be more progressive which is detailed farther below.

There are several bands by the name Tormentor. Ivor and Grutle said they were influenced by a Tormentor from Eastern European band named Tormentor. This one lines up as the likely candidate being an early black metal band from Hungary.

Sarcófago were an early black/death/thrash band who’s members went on to be part of the earliest Sepultura line up. Ivar named them as an influence.

Morbid Angel are an important death metal band. Ivar said they remained and influence even after Ivar and Grutle stopped playing death metal and moved on to black metal.

King Diamond went solo after spliting from Mercyful Fate. Grutle named King Diamond as an influence.

Master’s Hammer was an early black metal band from Czechoslovakia. Ivar and Grutle said they were a huge influence on Enslaved.

Pink Turns Blue are a post-punk band. They were an early goth rock band in Germany and pioneers of darwave. Ivar named them as an influence.

Autopsy are one of Enslave’s death metal influences. Grutle says they are a band they still listen to in 2008.

Darkthrone are a influential early black metal band. Ivar named them as an influence on Enslaved.

Rotting Christ has undergone stylistic changes over the years but were almost always rooted in black metal. Ivar said their influence can be heard on songs from the early Enslaved demos.

Carcass started as grind core, then went to death metal and were pioneers of melodic death. They are one of Enslave’s early death metal influences and Grutle said in a 2008 interview they were still an influence.

Entombed are a huge band from the Swedish death metal scene. They were one of the early death metal influence on Ivar and Grutle but the influence has stuck around.

Ulver began as a black metal band but has since switched to being and experimental ambient electronic thing. Ivar said they were a “huge inspiration in terms of how many weird and wonderful turns a seemingly straight-ahead journey can take”

Ivar said that their progressive influences were some of their earliest influences but they were not good enough to play in that way and instead gravitated toward death metal. He said they thought death metal was more confining where black metal offered more freedom and allowed for a more versatile sound. On a side note he talks about going to Euronymous’s record store to get the newest extreme metal records but Euronymous would say “Don’t bother with that shit” and instead point them Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno as well as lesser known Scandinavian prog bands. Ivar said that he had a big impact on guiding Enslaved to be more progressive.

Ivar and Grulte were in a death metal band called Phobia before starting Enslaved. They name some of their death metal influences as Autopsy, Carcass, Nihilist, Entombed, Morbid Angel, Nocturnus, and Obituary.

Grutle said they were pretty much inspired by all the black metal scene of the lat 80’s.

Ivar in one interview was asked what he was current listening to. He said he an d Grutle are both fans of Intronaut. Ivar loves Aura Noir and is a big fan of The Residents. Ivar says he listens to everything from classical, death metal, black metal, rock, jazz and even some pop. He pretty much listens to whatever.

Grutle talks about some of the bands he grew up listening to but didn’t name them all as an influence, These included Kiss, Iron Maiden, UFO, Slade, Deep Purple, Rainbow and Nazareth. Moving into heavier stuff he named Venom, Mercyful Fate, then thrash bands like Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and German thrash as well as bands already named above. Similar to Ivar, Grutle listens to many types of music including classical, jazz and even listens to The Beach Boys. Grutle says that Ivar is better with keeping up on new music where as he likes to discover bands from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s that he hadn’t gotten into before. In a more recent interview he names being into Jethro Tull and Funkadelic as well but didn’t specifically call them influences. It is important to note that newer influences of Grutle have far less impact on Enslaved because most of his writing contributions were earlier in their career with the exception of lyrics.

Richard "Roy" Kronheim played guitar and contributed to the writing on three albums but I’m unsure of his influences.

Other members are not credited for writing or if they are it is very sparingly.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-b-uhWXvnc
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/enslaveds-ivar-bjornson-discusses-10-songs-hes-been-listening-to-this-year/
https://crypticrock.com/interview-ivar-bjornson-of-enslaved/
https://www.loudersound.com/features/enslaved-have-gone-more-prog-than-ever-and-theyre-not-looking-back
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2017/01/23/viking-tales-an-interview-with-enslaved-s-ivar-bjrnson/
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2vualr
https://loudwire.com/enslaved-grutle-kjellson-in-times-album-more/
https://crypticrock.com/interview-grutle-kjellson-of-enslaved/
https://www.insertreviewhere.com/post/2018/08/27/interview-grutle-kjellson-of-enslaved
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2019/01/29/long-cold-winter-the-making-of-enslaveds-frost/
https://www.metalsucks.net/2008/11/04/enslaveds-gruttle-kjellson-the-metalsucks-interview/
http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/interview.php?interview_id=555&page=&message_id=&new_resolution=1600