When you name your band after the last known brothel (now a museum) in your home town, you’d better be able to deliver something special with your music, and without a doubt VESTINDIEN do just that with their sophomore full-length album “Verdande”.
Set for release on Dark Essence Records on the 10th of May, fans had already been given a glimpse into what to expect at the end of last year, when VESTINDIEN released a freshly mixed single even before the album was fully completed.
But now, with the album ready to go, Dark Essence Records are expanding that glimpse with a brand new single titled “Etter ilden”, a track which, according to VESTINDIEN, has undergone a series of iterations before having been deemed ready:
The demo was first written and recorded in the summer of 2021 in a location where the view from our windows was of the Urd, Skuld and Verdande mountains at Bjørnøya. It would be re-recorded several times before it finally came together as intended, at Underschön Studio in the fall of 2023.
“Etter ilden” is about taking the time to find calm and beauty in a world that is chaotic and full of suffering. We acknowledge that it is a privilege to be able to do so, whilst at the same time, we believe it is necessary to keep moving forward.
“Etter ilden” can be streamed or downloaded from a variety of sources at https://fanlink.tv/etterilden
“Verdande” comes three years on from the release of VESTINDIEN’s debut full-length “Null”, an album that served as an introduction to the band’s unique take on old-school metal but which hinted at something dark and harsh and sinister.
The fact that it was written both in a basement in Bergen, as well as on a secluded island in the Barents Sea, gives “Verdande” a unique feel, allowing its chaotic, claustrophobic underground roots to gain a more spacious, airy feel, that no doubt comes from being written out in the open sea.
With cover art by Geir Wallem and cover design by Sondre Krum Dahl, “Verdande” delivers eight tracks of psychedelic proto-metal with a gloomy twist, and whose song titles are in Norwegian, but whose lyrics are in English.
Track listing is as follows:
- Humus
- Evig Lys
- Etter ilden
- I en hule under berget
- Alt vårt
- Forbi stillheten
- Verdande
- Innover
“Verdande” will be released in Digital and LP formats, and is now available to pre-order from:
Webshop: https://darkessencerecords.no/shop/vestindien-verdande-black-vinyl/
Bandcamp: https://vestindien.bandcamp.com/album/verdande
VESTINDIEN, whose lineup today is comprised of Slettsnok on vocals, guitars and synth, Fader War and Henrik Paulsen on guitars, Karl Johan Johannessen on drums, Petter Beyer on synth and Pål Eirik Veseth on bass, was originally formed in 2009 and quickly earned itself a well-deserved reputation as an up-and-coming hardcore band with a heavy metal twist.
Their frenetic live shows gained the band a solid following, yet one year after the release of their 2011 EP “We are the Lords of Hellfire”, VESTINDIEN inexplicably called it a day. Their emergence several years later saw VESTINDIEN with a more introverted, and less hardcore and aggressive, approach to their music.
Answering only to their own their own standards and expectations, VESTINDIEN’s music today still hints at the bands hardcore roots but it has evolved into a sound that conjures up the essence of black metal, punk and old school rock’n’roll, all of which are enveloped in a dark shroud.
VESTINDIEN are confirmed to play a series of dates in the Spring. Routing as follows:
12 April: Blå, Oslo, Norway
13 April: Fängelset , Gøteborg, Sweden
19 April: Tou, Stavanger, Norway
27 April: T2, Ålesund, Norway
10 May: Landmark , Bergen, Norway
More information about the band can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Vestindien/
Additional Information
VESTINDIEN
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vestindien/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vestindien/
Band contact and booking: book.vestindien@gmail.com
DARK ESSENCE RECORDS
Dark Essence contact: post@karismarecords.no
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Dark Essence Records Australian Webshop: https://www.heavymetalmerchant.com/bands/d/dark-essence-records/
PATRICIA THOMAS BAND MANAGEMENT 