𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 3, 1996 — Borknagar released their debut full-length studio album, Borknagar via Malicious Records. (Apple Music or Spotify)
Background:
Borknagar was founded by Øystein Brun, then a member of the Norwegian Death Metal band Molested, when he became tired of the brutal aspects of the band's music.
Øystein formed Borknagar to explore a more melodic outlet of expression, inspired by the burgeoning Black Metal movement Norway was experiencing and looking to push the boundaries of what was considered "𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕" Black Metal music.
He wrote all of the music and lyrics and gathered together an all-star group of Black Metal musicians to play in his band, such as Infernus of Gorgoroth, Grim of Immortal and Gorgoroth and Ivar Bjørnson of Enslaved.
(Øystein Brun, Garm, Infernus, Ivar Bjørnson, Erik “Grim” Brødreskift - Borknagar, 1996)
When Garm of Ulver, Head Control System and Arcturus joined the project, it brought the band immediate attention. The band never even recorded a demo; they simply asked for a record contract on Malicious Records and were granted their request based on the strength of this lineup.
The band then recorded and released their self-titled debut album in August 1996. It is Borknagar’s only album to feature lyrics in the Norwegian language and their only album to feature Roger "Infernus" Tiegs on bass guitar (who reportedly recorded all his bass parts in a single day). The album was recorded at Grieghallen Studios (frequented by other Black Metal bands such as Burzum, Emperor and Gorgoroth).
The album features a more straightforward Black/Viking Metal approach (featuring heavy riffs, blasting tempos and an emphasis on harsh vocals) as opposed to the band's now trademark Progressive/Folk sound they would hint at on their next album, The Olden Domain.
In 1999, Erik “Grim” Brødreskift committed suicide using sleeping pills.
R.I.P. Erik “Grim” Brødreskift (December 23, 1969 - October 4, 1099).
Critical Reception:
Borknagar's music instantly gained fans and received positive press attention.
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William
York stated;
“𝙱𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚛‘𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚑 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚓𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 “𝚊𝚕𝚕-𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛“ 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚖 (𝚄𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚛/𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚞𝚜), 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚖 (𝙶𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑), 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝙸𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚞𝚜 (𝙶𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑), 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚔𝚎𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝙸𝚟𝚊𝚛 𝙱𝚓𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚗 (𝙴𝚗𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍), 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛/𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝙾𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚒𝚗 𝙶. 𝙱𝚛𝚞𝚗.
𝚅𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚂𝚓𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚔𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎 𝚃𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙‘𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖’𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚜. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚛‘𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙲𝙳𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎."
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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