Norwegian black metal band Borknagar have released news of a new album to follow up 2010′s Universal. The new album, titled Urd (this won’t get made fun of), has a release date of March 26th in Europe and March 27th in North America via Century Media Records. Øystein G. Brun has released the following statement regarding the album:
“Well, our new album “Urd” was finished in mid December and all in all we spent about 6 months to record, produce and mix it. In the “Bork-World” this isn’t really long, but I can assure you that we have never before invested so much time, energy and effort into one single production. It has been a tough, yet inspiring ride. Since June 2011 I have constantly been working with this album, recording, editing and so forth – day and night. The same goes for my comrades, never before have we made an album where everybody in the band has been so heavily involved and dedicated as this time around. “Urd” is surely the peak of our musical journey so far and we are extremely proud to have made this giant of an album! It’s massive, it’s emotional, it’s fast, it’s slow, it’s epic, and it’s progressive…all the ingredients that we have crafted our musical world on! And not to mention the “golden threesome” on vocals (Vintersorg, Mr. Vortex and Lazare) really shines on this album…Do I need to say more?!”
There was also this statement regarding the title. We thought they could probably explain it better:
“Our previous album was called “Universal” and where should we go after an album title with such a magnitude? Well, we decided to head back home to earth. We really wanted to get back to the core of the band, where it all started – the admiration and pondering about nature and mankind’s place therein. “Urd” is the name of one of the norns that according to northern mythology stands under Yggdrasill and weaves the lifeline of mankind. “Urd” is representing the past, while “Verdande” is representing the present and “Skuld” is representing the future. You might very well say that this is an ancient expression of what we today know as DNA. And I have always been very fascinated by the fact that parts and bits of our DNA actually derive from the very beginning of time. All living creatures are somewhat connected to the very first organic cell. That is some of the story behind the album title…”
That’s all the info for now, so look out for this if it’s your bag.
- MW
Lantlôs
If you’re not familiar with Alcest, it’s a post-black metal band created by the Frenchman Neige. He soon after added musicians to the mix, and then subtracted musicians to the mix, and then added one for drums. This is the follow up to Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde which was a fresh breath in the black metal scene. It had a mix of shoe-gaze and post-rock influences into black metal to create a surprisingly happy experience.
Comments From Hell (04/11-04/17)
Chris Catharsis brings you the week in review of metal bullshit every Sunday. All the news you might have missed and whatever else is on the chopping block!
Well here I am – writing my first post for HBIH. It’s a humbling moment, not unlike my first trike ride or back alley BJ. I’m no stranger to the metal blogosphere, having been the owner and primary writer for Spine Language for practically a full year now. Good times were had by all over there. I interviewed some great bands, had some original concepts, and even started an Internet war with Otep (check that one off the god damn bucket list). My posting there has been infrequent as of late because it takes a lot of time and effort to make quality content that satisfies my perfectionism, but my partner Dasher is doing a great job of making it seem like I know what I’m doing.
But now it’s time to start a new chapter with HBIH, and it begins with this weekly metal wrap-up column. I don’t intend to cover absolutely everything, just what I take notice of. Think of it like the CNN ticker, except with choice comments from the dirty asshole I call a mouth. The point is to stimulate discussion and catch you up on things you might have missed; we’ll see if either of those objectives are actually fulfilled in the end (my prediction: highly doubtful).
Time (or rather word count) is of the essence – so let’s begin.
View Full Article »