Darkthrone is a highly influential Norwegian black metal band formed in 1987. They began as an old-school Death Metal outfit under the name of Black Death. They released several demos, and one album, and were subsequently signed to Peaceville Records on a four album contract.
After changing their name to Darkthrone, the band released their first full length album, Soulside Journey. The album was cleanly produced, (in comparison to what they would release in the future, anyway) straight forward old-school Death Metal. Soon afterward, Darkthrone adopted the aesthetic style that would come to represent the black metal scene, wearing corpsepaint and working under occult or nordic pseudonyms.
At this point, bassist Dag Nilsen left the band. Darkthrone subsequently recorded and released the black metal album "A Blaze In The Northern Sky," which was strongly inspired by the works of Bathory and Celtic Frost. Peaceville Records was originally skeptical about releasing the album due to Darkthrone's diversion from the death metal style.
