SHINING Frontman Guests On New GRAVDAL Album

January 7, 2010

SHINING frontman Niklas "Kvarforth" Olsson has recorded vocals for a track on the forthcoming second album from Norwegian black metallers GRAVDAL, "Torturmantra". The song, entitled "Mishandlet", was laid down at the Erebus Odora studios in Sweden with producer Peter Bjärgö.

The follow-up to 2008's "Sadist", "Torturmantra" is due for release in early 2010 via Unexploded Records.

Formed in 2005 by guitarist Phobos (AETERNUS, MALSAIN, GALAR) and drummer Taakesjel (BIZZAREKULT),GRAVDAL is part of the legendary Bergen scene, which, over the years, has had a huge influence on the black metal genre, spawning such seminal bands as GOROGOROTH, ENSLAVED, IMMORTAL, TAAKE, BURZUM, etc.

GRAVDAL, whose lineup includes Galge on vocals and Specter on guitars, originally started life as a studio project, but, following the release of 2005's demo "Massegrav", the band decided that they wanted to do more with their music.

GRAVDAL first hit the stage in 2006 and has continued to perform live since then, with its own brand of "in-your-face" black metal.

According to the band, "Torturmantra" will be a huge step forward in GRAVDAL's development. "You will still be able to find the madness that was apparent on 'Sadist' but our songwriting skills have developed considerably since we produced that album, and our new material has much more depth and variety to it, both in sound and concept," the group said in a statement.

"Kvarforth's handling of the vocals on the 'Mishandlet' track caught us completely by surprise. It's a very different song for us, more along the lines of a black metal 'ballad,' and his whole approach to it, and his delivery, is amazing. The track deals with abuse, and he conjures up a terrifying atmosphere of pain and suffering. "

"Torturmantra" was produced by ENSLAVED's Herbrand Larsen, and was recorded by Larsen, Bjørnar E. Nilsen (VULTURE INDUSTRIES, BLACK HOLE GENERATOR) and Arve Isdal (ENSLAVED, AUDREY HORNE) at the Earshot and Conclave studios in Bergen.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/gravdal.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).