Posts Tagged ‘Norway’

Airbag PR1

Norwegian Prog Rockers AIRBAG have released a second video teaser for their upcoming album “Disconnected”, which is set for release on Karisma Records on the 10th June.   The teaser can be seen below and on the band’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/yNSHHd5xOx0


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With its lush soundscapes underlined by soaring guitars and soulful vocals “Disconnected”  further expands the blending of musical styles and sounds that make AIRBAG a unique listening experience.  The album itself is a reflection on the theme of alienation between the individual and society and  each of the six compositions depicts the state of feeling on ‘the outside’ and out of touch with oneself and those around us.

For the production of “Disconnected, Airbag has once again teamed up with long-time collaborator and engineer Vegard Sleipnes. The album is produced by Asle Tostrup and Bjørn Riis, and, as always, the artwork is  designed by vocalist Tostrup.

TRACKLIST
1.     Killer
2.     Broken
3.     Slave
4.     Sleepwalker
5.     Disconnected
6.     Returned

Airbag Disconnected PR1

Formed in 2004 AIRBAG’s lineup consists of Bjørn Riis (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, bass, co-producer), Asle Tostrup (vocals, keyboards, programming, producer, graphic design), Henrik Fossum (drums), Jørgen Hagen (programming, keyboards) and Anders Hovdan (bass).  The band’s music is best described as scenic, epic rock, and with three hugely successful album releases, “Identity” (2009),  “All Right Removed” (2011) and “The Greatest Show on Earth” (2013), AIRBAG has gained a solid following and reputation among both fans and the press.

AIRBAG will be performing a release show at the John Dee in Oslo, Norway, on the 10th June.  Tickets available from http://www.ticketmaster.no/event/airbag-oak-billetter/495325

More information about AIRBAG can be found on the band’s website at http://www.airbagsound.com/  or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/airbagsound

The first video teaser from “Disconnected” can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/gG8vNaWnm1g 


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Three tracks from AIRBAG can be heard below and at http://soundcloud.com/karisma-records/sets/airbag-on-karisma-records


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A video of AIRBAG playing “All Rights Removed” live in Oslo when the band supported Marillion on the Scandinavian leg of their world tour can be seen below and at http://youtu.be/iwK_hpJAPPA 


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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Website: www.airbagsound.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/airbagsound
MySpace: www.myspace.com/airbagsound
YouTube: www.youtube.com/airbagsound
Airbag Management: Jørn Terje Larsen,  jt@airbagsound.com
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords
Karisma Records on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/KarismarecordsNor
Karisma on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/karisma-records
Karisma Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Karisma Records US Webshop:  http://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/
Karisma Records BandCamp: http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/music
Karisma Records KlickTrack Store:  http://shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

 

Virus PR4

With the release date coming ever closer,  Karisma Records have debuted a track from VIRUS’  fourth full-length album “Memento Collider”.  The track, “Steamer” , which is being debuted exclusively on Metal Hammer Norway at http://hammer.kenspo.net/?p=4126 and Decibel Magazine at http://decibelmagazine.com/blog/2016/4/18/virus-premiere

Undoubtedly one of the most unique bands to come out of Norway, VIRUS have, for over a decade now, developed their otherworldly style and garnered themselves a large following that spans both the metal and rock scene world-wide.  “Memento Collider” heralds VIRUS’ return to their original 3-piece lineup of Carl-Michael “Czral” Eide on guitars and vocals, Petter “Plenum” Berntsen on bass and Einar “Einz” Sjursø on drums.  This time the iconic trio have taken VIRUS’ idiosyncratic trademark sound of unusual flowing bass lines, experimental riffs and groovy rhythms a few steps further,  to create a sound that is still very much experimental and progressive in the true sense of those definitions, but at the same time is catchy and melodic.

Set for release on the 3rd June and recorded at the Amper Tone Studios in Oslo, “Memento Collider” marks a spectacular return for VIRUS, where they once again demonstrate what the true essence of progressive rock is all about!

As with their  previous releases, VIRUS have invited a guest to perform on the  album, and on “Memento Collider” it is VOIVOD’s  Dan Mongrain who contributes a guitar solo.  Artwork for the album is by the Trine + Kim Design Studio (http://www.trineogkim.no/ ).  Track listing as follows:

  1. Afield
  2. Rogue Fossil
  3. Dripping Into Orbit
  4. Steamer
  5. Gravity Seeker
  6. Phantom Oil Slick

Virus Album Artwork PR“Memento Collider” is available to pre-order in both CD and 12″ vinyl format from http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/  as well as in in both formats or digital download from https://virus.bandcamp.com/

More information about VIRUS can be found on their website at http://virusnorway.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/virusnorwayofficial

VIrus PR3

Fan-filmed footage of VIRUS performing a new song from the upcoming album in New York can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/VccXpd5Y3Nw

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Virus Website:  http://virusnorway.com/
Virus on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/virusnorwayofficial
Virus on Bandcamp: https://virusnorway.bandcamp.com/
Virus Webstore:  http://virulentmusic.bigcartel.com/
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Karisma Records US Webshop:  http://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/
Karisma Records BandCamp: http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/music
Karisma Records KlickTrack Store:  http://shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords
Karisma Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords
Karisma Records on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/KarismarecordsNor

Airbag PR1

With their fourth full-length album, “Disconnected”,  set for release on the 10th June on Karisma Records, Prog Rockers AIRBAG have released a video teaser to give everyone a taste of what to expect from an album that takes the listener on a sonic journey filled with lush soundscapes underlined by soaring guitars and soulful vocals starting with the opening track, ‘Killer’, and ranging right through to the thirteen-minute long title track, “Disconnected”.  The teaser can be seen below and on Karisma Records’ YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/gG8vNaWnm1g


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Without a doubt AIRBAG have mastered  the art of creating a strong narrative listening experience by closely tying together lyrical themes and music,  and “Disconnected” ventures even deeper into blending musical styles and sounds, which create the unique listening experience that is AIRBAG.  The album itself is a reflection on the theme of alienation between the individual and society, what society expects from us as individuals, and our resultant failure to live up to those expectations. Each of the six compositions depicts the state of feeling on ‘the outside’ and out of touch with oneself and those around us.  Guitarist Bjørn Riis gives us some insight into the thought processes and musical ideas that went into the making of “Disconnected”:

“The early demos for “Disconnected” were written during a couple of months in late 2014. The idea and inspiration for most of the lyrics, and the title track in particular, came from me realising that I had to make some changes in my life. I was tired of the daily routine, working 9 to 5 in an office doing basically nothing and never having enough time for my family and music. I took a year off and started writing for the album.

“We discussed the theme for the songs and gave them a single title, reflecting different persons or ways of being disconnected to society and what’s expected of us and how we fail to live up to those expectations.

“As for the music, we have done three albums prior to this and those songs will always be a part of what we do, but you also want to look forward and explore new sounds and musical ground. We talked a lot about wanting to use more electronic elements and giving more room for the drums, allowing them to be more percussive and basically avoid the usual rock formula on all songs. We also wanted to do a more stripped down production and create a more spacious and dynamic sound”.

“Formed in 2004 AIRBAG’s lineup consists of Bjørn Riis (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, bass, co-producer), Asle Tostrup (vocals, keyboards, programming, producer, graphic design), Henrik Fossum (drums), Jørgen Hagen (programming, keyboards) and Anders Hovdan (bass).  The band’s music is best described as scenic, epic rock, and with three hugely successful album releases, “Identity” (2009),  “All Right Removed” (2011) and “The Greatest Show on Earth” (2013), AIRBAG has gained a solid following and reputation among both fans and the press.

For the production of “Disconnected”, Airbag has once again teamed up with long-time collaborator and engineer Vegard Sleipnes. The album is produced by Asle Tostrup and Bjørn Riis, and, as always, the artwork is  designed by vocalist Tostrup.

TRACKLIST
1.     Killer
2.     Broken
3.     Slave
4.     Sleepwalker
5.     Disconnected
6.     Returned

Airbag Disconnected PR1

AIRBAG will be performing a release show at the John Dee in Oslo, Norway, on the 10th June.  Tickets available from http://www.ticketmaster.no/event/airbag-oak-billetter/495325

More information about AIRBAG can be found on the band’s website at http://www.airbagsound.com/  or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/airbagsound

Three tracks from AIRBAG including “The Greatest Show On Earth” can be heard at http://soundcloud.com/karisma-records/sets/airbag-on-karisma-records

A video of AIRBAG playing “All Rights Removed” live in Oslo when the band supported Marillion on the Scandinavian leg of their world tour can be seen below and at http://youtu.be/iwK_hpJAPPA


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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Website: www.airbagsound.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/airbagsound
MySpace: www.myspace.com/airbagsound
YouTube: www.youtube.com/airbagsound
Airbag Management: Jørn Terje Larsen,  jt@airbagsound.com
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords
Karisma Records on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/KarismarecordsNor
Karisma on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/karisma-records
Karisma Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Karisma Records US Webshop:  http://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/
Karisma Records BandCamp: http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/music
Karisma Records KlickTrack Store:  http://shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

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Dark Essence Records have today announced that they have added Norwegian Alternative Metallers MADDER MORTEM to their roster.  The label is set to release the band’s sixth full length album, titled “Red In Tooth And Claw”, later this year, on a date as yet to be announced.  As a taste of what fans can expect, MADDER MORTEM have put together a teaser of some of the songs from “Red In Tooth And Claw”, which can be heard at http://www.maddermortem.com/mp3/teasers/MM_RITAC_Teaser_01.mp3

Formed in 1993, originally under the name of Mystery Tribe, MADDER MORTEM’s music, with its hauntingly beautiful vocals by Agnete M. Kirkevaag,  is atmospheric and melodic, with a very definite progressive leaning, but at the same time the band can show an underlying aggression that gives their sound a harder, more driven edge than one might expect.  Aside from Agnete, MADDER MORTEM’s five-member lineup includes BP. M. Kirkevaag on guitar & vocals, Richard Wikstrand on guitars, Tormod L. Moseng on bass and Mads Solås on drums.

More information about MADDER MORTEM can be found on the band’s website at http://www.maddermortem.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Madder-Mortem-10035071567

Madder Mortem PR2

The video for the track “Armour” from MADDER MORTEM’S  fifth full-length album “Eight Ways” can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/0J0jzOy57jg

Tracks from all of Dark Essence Records releases can be heard below and at https://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records/sets/dark-essence-records


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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Madder Mortem  Website: http://www.maddermortem.com/
Madder Mortem Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Madder-Mortem-10035071567
Band Contact and Booking: mail@maddermortem.com
Dark Essence contact: post@karismarecords.no
Dark Essence Records: www.darkessencerecords.no
Dark Essence on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords
Dark Essence Records Bandcamp:  http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/
Dark Essence Records YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/DarkEssenceRecords
Dark Essence SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records
Dark Essence Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Dark Essence Records North American Webshop:  http://darkessence.aisamerch.com/
Dark Essence Records KlickTrack: shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

Sulphur PR1

Having kept their fans waiting for seven long years since the release of  “Thorns in Existence”, Norwegian Experimental Death/Black Metallers SULPHUR recently announced that their third full-length album “Omens of Doom” would hit the streets early this year on Dark Essence Records.  With a release date now set for the 11th March, SULPHUR have today debuted a track from the album.  The track “Gathering Storms”, can be heard below and at http://sulphurnorway.bandcamp.com/album/omens-of-doom

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The lineup on “Omens of Doom” includes  Thomas Skinlo Høyven on Vocals, Øyvind Madsen on guitars, keys and programming, Vegard Hovland on bass, Erik Hæggernes on drums and guitarist Martin Lynn Ytrøy,  who replaces VULTURE INDUSTRIES’  Eivind Huse.  Huse himself makes a guest appearance on the album, as does  producer and VULTURE INDUSTRIES’  frontman Bjornar Erevik Nilsen.   The artwork for “Omens of Doom” is by  Romanian artist and designer Costin Chorineu. Track listing for “Omens of Doom” is as follows:

  1. The Force of Our Fall
  2. Gathering Storms
  3. The Devils Pyre
  4. Plague and Pestilence
  5. Omens of Doom
  6. Rise of the Mushroom Clouds
  7. Alt Svartner

Sulphur AlbumArtwork

SULPHUR is one of those bands that is able to straddle the line between Death and Black Metal with ease, whilst their use of progressive twists gives their sound a distinctive edge.   Since current and former members of bands such as GORGOROTH, ENSLAVED, AETERNUS and VULTURE INDUSTRIES  got together in 2000 to form SULPHUR, the band has released two demos and two full length studio albums, the first being “Cursed Madness” in 2007 on Osmose Productions, followed by 2009’s “Thorns in Existence” on Dark Essence.

SULPHUR’s next live appearance with be in Bergen at Blastfest on the 19th February for a special Dark Essence Records event, along with label-mates THE 3RD ATTEMPT, COR SCORPII, KRAKOW and SLEGEST.  Other  Dark Essence Records’ bands appearing at Blastfest will be MISTUR on the 17th and TAAKE on the 18th, whilst VIRUS, from sister-label Karisma Records, will also be playing on the 18th.

More information about SULPHUR can be found on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SULPHURBAND

“Omens of Doom” is now available to pre-order from https://sulphurnorway.bandcamp.com/album/omens-of-doom in CD and Digital formats or from http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/product/sulphur-omens-of-doom-cd  in CD format.

Sulphur PR2

Fan-filmed footage of SULPHUR performing at Karmoygeddon Arctic Festival can be seen below at https://youtu.be/StQt-ZBipYQ

 

SULPHUR’s 2009 album “Thorns in Existence” can be heard below and at https://sulphurnorway.bandcamp.com/album/thorns-in-existence

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SULPHURBAND
Band Contact: oyvind@vulture-industries.net
Dark Essence contact: post@karismarecords.no
Dark Essence Records: www.darkessencerecords.no
Dark Essence Records Bandcamp:  http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/
Dark Essence Records YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/DarkEssenceRecords
Dark Essence SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records
Dark Essence on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords
Dark Essence Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Dark Essence Records North American Webshop:  http://darkessence.aisamerch.com/
Dark Essence Records KlickTrack: shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

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It’s  been a couple of years since Norway’s SLEGEST released their debut full-length album on Dark Essence Records to much critical acclaim, and with fans wondering when they can expect to hear more, the band have today revealed that their sophomore  album is well on the way to completion.  The new work is being recorded and mixed at the Conclave and Earshot Studios in Bergen,  with VULTURE INDUSTRIES Bjørnar Erevik Nilsen at the helm.  With mixing just about finished, the album is set for release on Dark Essence Records during 2016.

SLEGEST was formed in 2010 by former VREID guitarist ESE, originally with the intention of playing BLACK SABBATH inspired music with harsh vocals.  Not one to leave a good idea to languish, Ese took the concept further and  SLEGEST grew  into the rock-orientated entity it is today, with a sound that is distinguished by a very definite Black Metal edge, and which Metal Hammer described as a “focused attempt to marry the atmospheres and primitivism of the blackened hordes to the rumbling swagger of prime BLACK SABBATH and the best strident old-school metal… with a subtle melodic sense that owes its leather-clad backside to DIO, PRIEST and even SCORPIONS”.

SLEGEST’s first release was the self-titled 2012 EP, which appeared as both a digital release and as a 7” vinyl on Ese’s own label Systrond Recordings.   With Norway’s Dark Essence Records, a label that has, over the years, demonstrated an uncanny ability to spot some the best local talent around, snapping up the band, SLEGEST’s debut full-length album “Løyndom” appeared in the autumn of 2013.  The response to  “Løyndom” convinced Ese that this was a project that needed to be made into a full-blown live band, and with Ese (ex-VREID) on Vocals and Rhythm Guitars, Sør (BÄÄÄV, VONBRÅTEN) on Lead Guitars, Hövard (BOMBEKLÜCHTER) on Bass and Fjøsne on Drums, SLEGEST hit the road with TAAKE and earned themselves a whole new set of admirers.

Commenting on what fans can expect from their sophomore album, Ese had this to say:  “We will pick up where we left off with “Løyndom” – mid-paced heaviness in all its glory and filth. I have read blackened doom applied as a description to our music.  But really you need to add a good dose of rock and then you might get the idea of what we are all about. There is so much to explore in our world of heavy rock and we are proud of our new songs which, to our ears – and, after all,  we are the blueprint –  sounds bloody brilliant. The album will of course deal with death, and, since I write all the music and spend plenty of time thinking about death, I guess it is safe to say that we are most likely onto something”.

More information about SLEGEST can be found on the band’s website at http://www.slegest.no/ or their official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/slegest/

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The official video for “Ho Som Haustar Aleine”, the  opening track from the album “Løyndom”, can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/CHdUCDbyB5g

 

“Løyndom”, the debut full-length album from SLEGEST can be heard below and at http://slegest.bandcamp.com/album/l-yndom

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Slegest Contact:  slegest@slegest.no
Slegest Website: http://www.slegest.no/
Slegest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slegest
Slegest Bandcamp: http://slegest.bandcamp.com/
Slegest SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/slegest
Dark Essence contact: post@karismarecords.no
Dark Essence Records: www.darkessencerecords.no
Dark Essence Records Bandcamp:  http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/
Dark Essence SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records
Dark Essence on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords
Dark Essence Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Dark Essence Records KlickTrack:  shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

Sulphur PR1

Seven years after the release of their last album, SULPHUR have once again signed with Norway’s Dark Essence Records, and are ready to announce details of what will be the Experimental Black/Death Metallers third full-length album.   Titled “Omens of Doom”,  the seven-track album is expected to hit the streets in February 2016.

With artwork by Romanian artist and designer Costin Chorineu, tracklisting for “Omens of Doom” is as follows:

  1. The Force of Our Fall
  2. Gathering Storms
  3. The Devils Pyre
  4. Plague and Pestilence
  5. Omens of Doom
  6. Rise of the Mushroom Clouds
  7. Alt Svartner

Sulphur AlbumArtwork

Formed in 2000 with current and former members of bands such as GORGOROTH, ENSLAVED, AETERNUS and   VULTURE INDUSTRIES,  SULHPUR’s demo “A Relic For The Damned”  demonstrated the direction the band would be taking, which lies between Death and Black Metal with a progressive twist, but the band lay dormant for a few years, until they returned with a second demo and an altered lineup and eventually signed to Osmose Productions for the release of their debut studio album “Cursed Madness” in 2007.

By 2009 SULPHUR had found their home with Dark Essence Records, and released their critically acclaimed sophomore album “Thorns in Existence”.   Now, with a lineup that includes  Thomas Skinlo Høyven on Vocals, Øyvind Madsen on guitars, keys and programming, Vegard Hovland on bass, Erik Hæggernes on  drums and guitarist Martin Lynn Ytrøy who replaces VULTURE INDUSTRIES’  Eivind Huse,  SULPHUR is back with a brand new album that features guest appearances from producer and VULTURE INDUSTRIES’ frontman Bjornar Erevik Nilsen as well as Eivind Huse.

SULPHUR’s next live appearance will be on the 19th February at Blastfest in Bergen, Norway.

More information about SULPHUR can be found on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SULPHURBAND

Sulphur PR2

Fan-filmed footage of SULPHUR performing at Karmoygeddon Arctic Festival can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/StQt-ZBipYQ

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SULPHUR’s 2009 album “Thorns in Existence” can be heard below and at https://sulphurnorway.bandcamp.com/

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SULPHURBAND
Band Contact: oyvind@vulture-industries.net
Dark Essence Records contact and promo: post@karismarecords.no
Dark Essence Records: www.darkessencerecords.no
Dark Essence Records Bandcamp: https://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/
Dark Essence SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records
Dark Essence on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords
Dark Essence Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Dark Essence KlickTrack Store:  http://shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

 

Dark Essence Records have today debuted a track  from “raunijaR”, the upcoming album from Norwegian Viking Metallers HELHEIM.   With the album due to hit the streets on the 4th December, the title track “RaunijaR” can be heard below and at https://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records/helheim-raunijar

“raunijaR”  which will be the band’s eighth full-length release, is the follow up to 2011’s “Heiðindómr ok Mótgangr” and  was recorded at Conclave & Earshot Studio by VULTURE INDUSTRIES’ Bjørnar Nilsen and mastered  by ENSLAVED’s Herbrand Larsen.  Artwork for the album is by HELHEIM’s  H’grimnir of www.coverart.no.

Track listing on “raunijaR” as follows:

1 – Helheim 9
2 – raunijaR
3 – Åsgards Fall III
4 – Åsgards Fall IV
5 – Odr

Since the release of “Heiðindómr ok Mótgangr”, HELHEIM have been busy expanding their unique take on VIking Metal.  The band have been building even further on what is over twenty years of experience and have created an album that not only  brings to a close the “Åsgards Fall ” storyline that began with the EP of that name in 2010, but also completes the themes that have woven their way in and out of HELHEIM’s music since the very beginning.

Along with HELHEIM’s lineup of  V’gandr on bass and vocals, H’grimnir on  guitar and vocals, Hrymr on  drums and Noralf on guitars, “raunijaR” features  ALFAHANNE’s Pehr Skjoldhammer and Norwegian musician William Hut on guest vocals, as well as additional guest musicians on violin, piano and horns,  giving the album an epic feel.  The band’s trademark dark and atmospheric sound has been further enhanced  by the fact that V’gandr himself has been expanding and perfecting his clean vocals, something that allows the two vocalists to combine their clean vocals to add yet another interesting new dimension to the  band’s sound.

V’gandr  recently gave his insights  on the new album:  “The  opening track “Helheim 9” is actually the last in the line of the HELHEIM tracks where Hrymr in particular has been the creative force.  He has  combined his unique creativity and symbolism in a way that overwhelms everything that came before, and  the result is a truly fitting closure.

“The title track “raunijaR”  continues on from Helheim’s “Heiðindómr ok Mótgangr”, and has a relentlessly driving sound that showcases the confrontational,  yet familiar,  black metal sound in the vein of “Dualitet og Ulver”.  “Åsgards Fall” Parts 3 and 4 will be the final and vital link in the completion of the theme that was begun in both lyrical and musical terms with the “Åsgards Fall” MCD. Closing the album is “Odr”, a solemn track that gives the album an ending full of the grandeur and respect that it deserves.”

HELHEIM will make a special appearance at  BlekkMetal Festival which runs from the 13th to the 15th November at USF Verftet in Bergen.  The one-off event is billed as a tribute to the birth of the Norwegian Black Metal scene, and will hark back to the atmosphere, bands, art and individuals from the scene pre 1994.  HELHEIM will perform their debut album “Jormundgand” on Saturday 14th to mark the 20th Anniversary of its release.   They will also be interviewed live on stage along with ENSLAVED, and will be discussing how their lyrical narratives and their musical craft have been influenced by their Viking roots and traditions.

Included on the BlekkMEtal  bill are veteran bands such as TAAKE, KAMPFAR, AETERNUS, HADES ALMIGHTY, GEHENNA, ENSLAVED, and brand new bands such GAAHLS WYRD, and a special onetime only reunion of the legendary OLD FUNERAL.   Also appearing will be The C.L.A.S.P. Ritual /Dirge Rep  – a tribute band  consisting of legendary musicians such as Dirge Rep himself, Skagg, Gaahl, Garm and many more.

Some of the top Norwegian tattoo artists will be present at the event, and will be available for appointments, including, Colin Dale, Kai Uwe Faust and Tor Ola Svennevig, three Viking  tattooists who work entirely by hand, without the use of machines.   Art exhibitions, movies and guest speakers will also be featured at the event.  More information about the BlekkMetal Festival, as well as ticket details can be found at www.blekkmetal.com

More information about HELHEIM can be found on the band’s website at  http://www.helheim.com or on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/helheimnorway

“raunijaR” is available to pre-order from http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/product/helheim-rauniar-cd-t-shirt-bundle or https://helheim.bandcamp.com/

The official video for the track “Dualitet og Ulver” from HELHEIM’s MCD “Åsgards Fall”, which features a guest appearance from TAAKE’s Hoest, can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/P_fw_nsSHeA

Tracks from all of HELHEIM’s releases can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/helheimofficial/sets/helheim-player

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Helheim Website: http://www.helheim.com
Helheim Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/helheimnorway
Helheim  YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/frosjo
Helheim SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/helheimofficial
Band Contact: helheim@helheim.com
Dark Essence Records contact and promo: post@karismarecords.no
Dark Essence Records: www.darkessencerecords.no
Dark Essence Records Bandcamp: https://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/
Dark Essence SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records
Dark Essence on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords
Dark Essence Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Dark Essence KlickTrack Store:  http://shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

Over four years have passed since HELHEIM released their last album, and now the veteran Norwegian Viking metallers are set to release their eighth full-length album on the 4th December on Dark Essence Records.    Titled  “raunijaR”, the album was recorded at Conclave & Earshot Studio by VULTURE INDUSTRIES’ Bjørnar Nilsen and was mastered  by ENSLAVED’s Herbrand Larsen.

In the intervening years between 2011’s critically acclaimed “Heiðindómr ok Mótgangr” and the upcoming release of “raunijaR” , HELHEIM have been both experimenting with, and building on, their unique take on the Viking Metal genre.  As well as completing the themes that have woven their way through HELHEIM’s music since the very beginning,  it is with “raunijaR” that the band completes the “Åsgards Fall ” storyline that began with the EP of that name in 2010.

HELHEIM’s lineup comprises V’gandr on bass and vocals, H’grimnir on  guitar and vocals, Hrymr on  drums and Noralf on guitars.  V’gandr himself has been expanding and perfecting his clean vocals, and now, when the two vocalists combine to sing clean vocals new elements are added to the band’s sound.   Guest  vocals on “raunijaR” come from ALFAHANNE’s Pehr Skjoldhammer and Norwegian musician William Hut,  with additional guests performing on violin, piano and horns to further enhance HELHEIM’s dark and heavy atmospheres and create a truly epic masterpiece.

Artwork is by H’grimnir from www.coverart.no.  Track listing on “raunijaR” as follows:

  1. Helheim 9
  2. Raunijar
  3. Åsgards Fall III
  4. Åsgards Fall IV
  5. Odr

Commenting on “raunijaR” V’gandr had this to say:  “The  opening track “Helheim 9” is actually the last in the line of the HELHEIM tracks where Hrymr in particular has been the creative force.  He has  combined his unique creativity and symbolism in a way that overwhelms everything that came before, and  the result is a truly fitting closure.

“The title track “raunijaR”  continues on from Helheim’s “Heiðindómr ok Mótgangr”, and has a relentlessly driving sound that showcases the confrontational,  yet familiar,  black metal sound in the vein of “Dualitet og Ulver”.  “Åsgards Fall” Parts 3 and 4 will be the final and vital link in the completion of the theme that was begun in both lyrical and musical terms with the “Åsgards Fall” MCD. Closing the album is “Odr”, a solemn track that gives the album an ending full of the grandeur and respect that it deserves.”

In  November HELHEIM will make a special appearance at  BlekkMetal Festival which runs from the 13th to the 15th November at USF Verftet in Bergen.  The one-off event is billed as a tribute to the birth of the Norwegian Black Metal scene, and will hark back to the atmosphere, bands, art and individuals from the scene pre 1994.  HELHEIM will perform their debut album “Jormundgand” on Saturday 14th to mark the 20th Anniversary of its release.   They will also be interviewed live on stage along with ENSLAVED, and will be discussing how their lyrical narratives and their musical craft have been influenced by their Viking roots and traditions.

Included on the BlekkMEtal  bill are veteran bands such as TAAKE, KAMPFAR, AETERNUS, HADES ALMIGHTY, GEHENNA, ENSLAVED, and brand new bands such GAAHLS WYRD, and a special onetime only reunion of the legendary OLD FUNERAL.   Also appearing will be The C.L.A.S.P. Ritual /Dirge Rep  – a tribute band  consisting of legendary musicians such as Dirge Rep himself, Skagg, Gaahl, Garm and many more.

Some of the top Norwegian tattoo artists will be present at the event, and will be available for appointments, including, Colin Dale, Kai Uwe Faust and Tor Ola Svennevig, three Viking  tattooists who work entirely by hand, without the use of machines.   Art exhibitions, movies and guest speakers will also be featured at the event.  More information about the BlekkMetal Festival, as well as ticket details can be found at www.blekkmetal.com

More information about HELHEIM can be found on the band’s website at  http://www.helheim.com or on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/helheimnorway

The official video for the track “Dualitet og Ulver” from HELHEIM’s MCD “Åsgards Fall”, which features a guest appearance from TAAKE’s Hoest, can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/P_fw_nsSHeA

Tracks from all of HELHEIM’s releases can be heard below and at https://soundcloud.com/helheimofficial/sets/helheim-player

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Helheim Website: http://www.helheim.com
Helheim Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/helheimnorway
Helheim  YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/frosjo
Band Contact: helheim@helheim.com
Dark Essence Records contact and promo: post@karismarecords.no
Dark Essence Records: www.darkessencerecords.no
Dark Essence Records Bandcamp: https://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/
Dark Essence SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/dark-essence-records
Dark Essence on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords
Dark Essence Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Dark Essence KlickTrack Store:  http://shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

With their sophomore full-length album “Music For Wastelands” set to hit the streets on Karisma Records on the 6th November, Jazz Prog Rockers OSSICLES have debuted a new video for a track from the album.  The self-made video for “Family Tree” is a quirky look at some trips the band took during the summer, and it can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/Fj4GtIthcng

“Music  for Wastelands” is a follow up to the band’s debut album “Mantelpiece”.  Originally self-released, “Mantelpiece” was  re-released on Karisma Records earlier this year, finally bringing the album that caught the attention of musical greats such as MIKE PORTNOY  and PORCUPINE TREE’s STEVEN WILSON, to a wider audience.

Speaking recently  about “Music  For Wastelands”, OSSICLES founders Bastian and Sondre Veland, the two cousins who formed the band in 2011, had this to say:  “We  both agree that with “Music for Wastelands” we have been able to define our own individual style and sound much more clearly, and we now sound more like ourselves rather than the music that originally inspired us”.

The duo then went on to explain that the album is a concept story “told through the songs, and it’s composed as a single musical piece, which is something that will probably become clear the  more you hear it, because it’s meant to be an album in which you can hear something new every time you listen to it. The structure itself is inspired by DAVID BOWIE’s album “Low”, where the more immediate songs – the ones that are easiest to like –  appear first, and the more experimental songs come at the end.  There are few limitations when it comes to genres, and the album features a lot of different styles, something that was necessary in order to properly portray the concept and the story”.

All instruments and vocals on the 14-track album are performed by Bastian and Sondre Veland, with  guest appearances from Erlend Furuset Jenssen (saxophone) and Karin Mäkiranta (vocals).  Artwork for “Music for Wastelands” is by Randi Veland and track listing is as follows:

1. Halfway Homes
2. Darkroom
3. Tectonic
4. Will It Last?
5. Family Tree
6. Exit Wound
7. Pale Summer Nails
8. The Red Heart
9. Goodnight Ghosts
10. In the Stereo
11. Girl with the Glass Eye
12. Pandemonium
13. Porcelain Doll
14. Music for Wastelands

“Music for Wastelands” will be released in CD Digipack and digital formats and  is now available to pre-order from Karisma Records BandCamp  at   https://ossiclesband.bandcamp.com/ or the webshop at http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/

More information about OSSICLES can be found on the band’s website at http://ossiclesband.wix.com/ossicles or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Ossicles

“Halfway Homes”,  the opening track from “Music for Wastelands”, the upcoming album from Jazz Prog Rockers OSSICLES, can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/karisma-records/ossicles-halfway-homes

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Ossicles Website:  http://ossiclesband.wix.com/ossicles
Ossicles Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ossicles
Band contact and booking:  ossiclesband@gmail.com
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records BandCamp: http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/music
Karisma Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Karisma Records KlickTrack Store:  http://shop.klicktrack.com/karismadarkessencerecords

Karisma Records on  SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/karisma-records
Karisma Records on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords