FORTÍÐ have released their highly praised sixth album, “World Serpent”, on December 11th.
The Icelandic pagan metal duo has been awarded with “album of the month” titles in the current issues of renowned German magazines Metal Hammer and Sonic Seducer among a flood of high grades in reviews across media around the globe. Prophecy Productions congratulates Einar and Kristján on their remarkable success!
| FORTÍÐ comment: “I am proud to announce my second album in two months being released by Prophecy Productions”, declares mastermind Einar Eldur Thorberg. “Last month, Katla came out. This month Fortíð’s ‘World Serpent’ is set free. Fortíð has had a stretch of bumpy road, which is now lying behind us and the pieces finally fall into place. Half of this release is the parting gift of our Norwegian line-up, and I want to take this special opportunity to thank Øystein, Rikard, and Dan from the bottom of my heart for all the great times. The other half of the album, marks a new beginning with Kristján Einar, who already played the drums on Fortíð’s debut full-length. He is firmly back behind our drumkit and just getting warmed up. Terry Nikas (Scar of the Sun) did a marvelous job mixing the album. He combined these two parts in such a skillful way that many don’t even realise that they are listening to two separate recording sessions. Psychon Nyne (SepticFlesh) also handled the mastering perfectly. That those two guys hail from Greece makes this album even more special. To complete the list, we have Heljarmadr (Grá, Dark Funeral) on backing vocals for ‘Perfect Annihilation’. Greg Eleftheriou (Scar of the Sun) on additional acoustics for ‘The True Awakening’. Phlegeton Vortex (Wormed) did the digital art. Kjartan Baldursson and Matias Aaveren recorded the drums. I also need to thank Atli Jarl for lending me his killer (Greek) bass. Thanks go out to Martin Tønning Strand, Jahn Tore Hansen, and Laura Diamond for her photography. Laura is also behind the artwork of this album and has worked with me on the layout. Thank you all so much for your valuable contributions! It is just great to finally see this fruit of hard work and much love out in the world.” |
| Tracklist 1. AI 2020 2. The True Awakening 3. Controlled Patterned Mental Process 4. Insignificant is the Wormking’s Throne 5. Suppressed Opposition 6. Son of a Barren Land 7. Pandemic 8. Beyond the Grips of Odium 9. Perfect Annihilation 10. Last Line of Defence |
| In the pagan mind, every end also marks a beginning. The Norse gods perish in a final battle of a chain of apocalyptic events called Ragnarök that witnesses the old world die in flames. Yet according to the prophetic poem “Völuspá”, they return on the next morning to a renewed world free from the old sins at the beginning of a new cycle. FORTÍÐ have artistically captured such a cataclysmic turning point with their sixth full-length “World Serpent” by creating an album that essentially consists of two halves of five songs each. Although both parts have diverging musical visions and even different line-ups, they complement each other rather than to constitute two separate entities. “I see ‘World Serpent’ as a duology”, explains mastermind Einar Eldur Thorberg. “The chapters are bound together by an apocalyptic theme that provides a red thread running through this album.” Although the title refers to the mythological Midgard Serpent as a cleverly chosen metaphor as this beast from ancient tales is also a symbol for the equator, circling the globe and thus dividing it into two halves, FORTÍÐ have deliberately not used Old Norse literature apart from some metaphors in the lyrics of their new songs. “I don’t want to get stuck in that Viking metal box”, explains the multi-instrumentalist. “I take the freedom to do what I want and evolve.” The other main clamp holding both parts of the album together are, of course, Einar’s trademark riffs and distinct vocals. “In the first part, I experimented a bit with influences from Bay Area thrash both in the singing and the guitar sound”, he reveals. “The second part sees a return to a more black metal approach with screams and clean vocals.” Yet, not only the sources of inspiration set both halves apart, but the fact that Einar moved back from Norway to his native Iceland for personal reasons and left the previous FORTÍÐ line-up behind as well, which had already recorded the first five tracks. Back on the volcanic island, he recorded five more songs aided by Kristján Einar Guðmundsson (KONTINUUM, POTENTIAM). Despite some subtle experimentation and drastic line-up changes, FORTÍÐ are still following the course that Einar set on the “Völuspá”-trilogy of albums from 2003 to 2010 as well as the acclaimed “Pagan Prophecies” (2012) and “9” (2015) full-lengths by combining harsh black and death metal riffing as well as a pinch of thrash with a penchant for epic melodies, versatile vocals and a dose of “Icelandic sound”. With “World Serpent”, FORTÍÐ have unleashed a dark and deadly creature onto the pagan metal world! Release date: 11th of December 2020 Current line-up Einar Eldur Thorberg – vocals, guitars Kristján Einar Guðmundsson – drums Style: Pagan Metal Link: www.facebook.com/fortid |
“World Serpent” is available as Digipak CD and on Gatefold 2LP in black and in ltd. edition transparent Curacao blue vinyl.
