BORKNAGAR's Øystein G. Brun On Winter Thrice Album – “We Wanted To Make This Somehow The Musical History Of The Band”; Audio

Metal Wani has issued a 2-part interview with Borknagar founder/guitarist Øystein G. Brun.

In Part 1, he discusses the new album Winter Thrice, fan response to the new single, how the band finds inspiration from nature, how they bridge a gap between music and nature, how Norway has shaped the sound of the band over last 20 years, how the scope and production of this album is so diverse and how the band managed to get the quality of sound, working with Jens Bogren and more.

In Part 2, Øystein discusses the vocal patterns with three different voices, how the band spend months on ideas and vocal melodies, guitar tone and the rig used during the process, working with Leprous drummer Baard Kolstaad, his opinion on Norwegian metal scene and how it changed the music in 90s, upcoming summer festival, touring and much more.

Borknagar will release their 10th studio album, Winter Thrice, on January 22nd via Century Media Records worldwide.

The band has launched a promotional video for the album’s title track, directed by David Solbjerg and Kjetil Kolbjørnsrud of Twitchy Films. The clip features former/original vocalist and Ulver-mastermind Kristoffer Rygg on guest vocals.

Øystein G. Brun comments on the video: “Finally it’s time to present our brand new video for the song “Winter Thrice”. Being the title track for the 10th album, we wanted this to be something special. We are indeed a special band. The song and the video features all the 4 vocalists throughout our 20 years of adventure, including Kristoffer Rygg, aka Garm, who was our very first vocalist back in the days. The video was produced by the eminent team from Twitchy Films and was captured at various locations in Norway; first and foremost at the amazing Midgard Historiske Senter at Borre, but also in the furious wilderness of the wintry Telemark. We all laid our hearts into this project, we hope that shines through! Enjoy and happy holidays!”

Winter Thrice will be released as standard CD, as limited edition Digipak CD version with extended artwork and also as Gatefold 2-LP on 180gr. vinyl (on black vinyl but also in strictly limited coloured versions: transparent blue in 100x copies / CM Webshop USA and white in 100x copies / CM Webshop Europe). Both the Digipak and the LP come with the bonus track “Dominant Winds” and additionally, the Digipak includes a Borknagar logo-patch.

The album’s European pre-sale kicks off today via CM Distro and soon also digitally (with the two first singles as instant grat), so make sure to pre-order Winter Thrice in your format of choice throughout the holidays. Digital pre-sale starts on December 25th.

Winter Thrice tracklisting:

“The Rhymes Of The Mountain”
“Winter Thrice”
“Cold Runs The River”
“Panorama”
“When Chaos Calls”
“Erodent”
“Noctilucent”
“Terminus”
 
“The Rhymes Of The Mountain” lyric video:

Winter Thrice, which – just like the previous album Urd from 2012 – was once again mixed by Jens Bogren / Fascination Street Studios (Opeth, Kreator, Amon Amarth, etc.) and packaged in artwork by Marcelo Vasco / P2RDesign (Slayer, Machine Head, Soulfly, etc.), is unique to the Borknagar catalogue also because it features four vocalist parts, including the return of original singer and Ulver-mastermind Kristoffer Rygg, a.k.a. Garm, who guests on two songs.

The album encompasses everything that Borknagar has put to tape over the past two decades, from their most brutal assaults to their most experimental compositions, with a larger progressive vibe than ever before, making it an absolute highlight in the band’s already stellar career so far…
 
Borknagar are confirmed for the following festival appearances:

June
17-19 – Dessel, Belgium – Graspop Metal meeting

July
1-3 – Roitzschjora, Germany – With Full Force

August
4-6 – Wacken, Germany – Wacken Open Air

Borknagar lineup:

Øystein G. Brun – Clean and Electric Guitars
Vintersorg – Grim Vocals, Clean Vocals and Choirs
Jens F. Ryland – Lead Guitars
ICS Vortex – Bass, Clean Vocals and Choirs
Lars A. Nedland – Keys, Clean Vocals and Choirs
Baard Kolstad – Drums