DARKTHRONE's TED 'NOCTURNO CULTO' SKJELLUM To Release Debut Album From His New Band AVRAK In October

Recently unveiled Norwegian heavy metal juggernaut-in-the-making AVRAK was founded in November 2023 by guitarists Anders Hegna (NØD, EL KAYENNE, SVIDD GREVLING) and Ted "Nocturno Culto" Skjellum, notable for being half of legendary duo DARKTHRONE. The pair had known each other for many years, and with a mutual passion for old, classic rock and metal they finally embarked upon this new journey together under the banner of AVRAK.

It quickly became evident that both were on the same page, with AVRAK's first compositions taking shape within just five days. Ted had declared from the beginning that he would not carry out main vocal duties in the band, and so it was Anders — with his own vocal grit a comfortable match anyway — who assumed the role. Several weeks later, Terje Kråbøl (GJENDØD, SARKE, FAUSTCOVEN) was brought in on the drums and, from thereon, with his percussive presence backing up some thunderous riffing, the creative work accelerated, culminating in the self-titled, hook-laden and doom-laced rock debut, "Avrak".

Suitably and epically defined as a monumental "heavy metal voyage from the peak of the mountains to the depths of the seas", and delivering themes relating to empowerment in the face of increasingly corrupt times, "Avrak" is a combination of a vast multitude of influences, as the eclectic, deceptively nuanced nine track offering features a classic heavy metal and doom rock backbone, with further experimentation including synth passages, and even some traces of black metal riffing in its DNA.

Due on October 9 via Peaceville, "Avrak" was recorded, mixed and mastered in Mølla Studio by Knut Magne Valle in February 2026. The LP's first single, "Unborn", can be streamed below.

AVRAK subsequently held its debut show in their local town of Porsgrunn in late April 2026, backed by new bassist and final piece of the puzzle, Steinar Gundersen (KHOLD, SARKE, SATYRICON),with more live shows intended in future to support the release.

In a June 2026 interview with Dev Gohil, Nocturno Culto stated about how the idea for AVRAK came about: "Actually, I've known this guy [Anders] for — I don't know — 12 years or something. And I knew he was in other bands. And we talked about maybe we should do something once and try it out and see what it becomes.

"We come from slightly different angles, when looking at music, but we have a lot in common. I listened to KREATOR up until '87 max, and he's likes [listening] to things from '88 and onwards. So I have a bit more old-school path. But it's fun.

"When we decided [to play together for the first time], we locked ourselves into a cabin up in the mountains for, like, five days," he added. "We had a lot of equipment with us, and we had never played together before, and let's see how this works out. And it could be after the first night that we just [say], 'Okay, this doesn't work. We are going to sit here for five more days.' But we were on to something quite early. And it's a lot of coincidences on how this is working."

On the topic of AVRAK's musical direction, Skjellum said: "On the album that we recorded in February, [Anders] has the kind of, let's say, a bit of a more rock guitar sound thing, and I have the more metal guitar sound thing, and they kind of blend together. The music is very... I mean, we play two different things almost all the time on this album, and it sounds really chaotic, but this is the hard part for us to be working with. To get this right, it takes a lot of time, and also our arrangements and small details."

He continued: "I think the AVRAK album is coming out this autumn sometime. And we're looking forward to it. For us, it's like a milestone because all the hours we put into this project, and we also played actually a concert now in late April. So, the goal for AVRAK is to play more live. I mean, we have a great band together. So, we got that confirmed in April that, yes, sure we can play live. It's no problem."

Asked how his songwriting approach for AVRAK is different from that for DARKTHRONE, Skjellum said: "Well, it's different, especially in the most obvious way, is that me and the other guitarist, we are making everything together. He doesn't live far away from me, so we have a rehearsing space down here, and we are working closely on all the details of this music. And the music itself definitely differs from DARKTHRONE because... It's a bit more classic heavy metal, hard rock. There could be some doom things there and maybe some black metal elements, but it's more of a classic — what should I say? — heavy, heavy metal kind of thing. And I think that that's kind of one of the things that makes it interesting for me because I'm a huge fan of the classic heavy metal from the '80s and stuff like that, the more optimistic decade somehow, something like that. I mean, heavy metal in the '80s was very different because the European heavy metal versus the American heavy metal was... It's very, very far away from each other because the Europeans, of course, have more history. And then their music [is] darker somehow. So the European heavy thing was — not like the party kind of thing, but it was a different thing. Yeah, I like it."

"Avrak" track listing:

01. Forever Mountain (04:45)
02. Unborn (04:45)
03. Long May The Lums Reek (05:22)
04. Rot (01:07)
05. Varde (04:31)
06. Cloaks Of Power (03:45)
07. The Lonely Shadow (05:32)
08. The Rift (05:55)
09. Hav (02:47)

AVRAK is:

Anders Hegna - Guitars, vocals, bass
Ted Skjellum - Guitars, Moog guitar/synthesizer, additional vocals, effects
Terje Kråbøl - Drums
Steinar Gundersen – bass

Photo by Ketil Hardy