Posts Tagged ‘Øystein Brun’
New Borknagar drummer announced
February 22, 2012 | Author Jens F. Ryland
Yes, the rumours are true, the new Borknagar drummer is Baard Kolstad.
Borknagar - Baard Kolstad
Baard was also presented as the new ICS Vortex drummer just last week and I already saw some speculations drawing the correct lines in here.
Baard is a bit younger then the rest of us geezers, but his entry into the music scene is quite amazing. Baard was “discovered” by Mr Vortex himself in the spring 2011 while recording in Toproom Studio with a band. Just after this both Borknagar and ICS Vortex were asked to participate in the anniversary recording of Metallica’s Black Album, and as Asgeir Mickelson was unavailable, Vortex called up Baard and asked him to play on the song.
Baard has a very well visited Youtube channel which I don’t think needs any explanation, just enter and have a look for yourself; Baard Kolstad Youtube
Borknagar - Baard Kolstad
The last achievement Baard did was to win the World Championship in v-drums arranged by Roland in January 2012, have a look at this video:
And you can watch his winning performance here:
You can Baard’s Facebook page and chat to the man himself if you like. Later on there will be a post up on the Borknagar website with some comments from Øystein and Baard.
————Jens
Borknagar releases first Urd song for streaming
February 9, 2012 | Author Jens F. Ryland
Here we are! Finally!
I’ve been waiting for this for quite some time now. After we went back home from Fascination Street I have been dying to show this to everyone and get some feedback on this. And the release date is still some weeks away, but at least we can now share one of the songs from the upcoming Borknagar album with you!
Below you can also see a new band photo and the statement from Century Media. The Statement also contains the link, but for you impatient ones you can find it here at Metal Hammer Germany: Borknagar – Roots – (Urd)
Let me hear what you think!!!
————-Jens
Borknagar- Urd (2012)
BORKNAGAR – Launch first new promotional song and new band-photo!
Norwegian Avantgarde Metallers BORKNAGAR are premiering a first promotional song off their much anticipated new studio album, “Urd”, today via the website of Metal Hammer (Germany). Go check out the enthralling track “Roots” here: Borknagar – Roots – (Urd)
BORKNAGAR’s mastermind Øystein G. Brun checked in to comment about the song as follows:
“In regards to the depth, diversity and magnitude of our new album, “Urd”, it almost feels painful to slice off just a tiny bit of the bloody roast for the very first official “starter”. I would argue that each and every song on the new album stands on solid ground, but as usual with our music, the songs empower each other in the context of a full album.
That said, “Roots” is probably the song on the album that gives you the most representative impression of “Urd”. Musically it contains most of the elements that framework the musical universe of BORKNAGAR, and lyrically this song is gnawing on the very spine of our lyrical tradition. Hope you enjoy this song, the first tiny glimpse into our new opus. The beast is about to be unleashed…”
“Roots” is taken off the album “Urd”, which to be released on March 26th, 2012 in Europe as well as March 27th, 2012 in North America via Century Media Records.
The album’s artwork was designed by Brazilian artist Marcelo Vasco (www.P2RDESIGN.com), who has not only already worked on the band’s previous “Universal” release but also with artists such as Soulfly, Belphegor, Einherjer or Keep of Kalessin. The mixing duties for the album were taken care of by Jens Bogren at Sweden’s Fascination Street Studios (Opeth, Paradise Lost, Katatonia, etc.).
The tracklisting for the album will read as follows:
BORKNAGAR – “Urd” / Tracklisting:
1. Epochalypse
2. Roots
3. The Beauty Of Dead Cities
4. The Earthling
5. The Plains Of Memories
6. Mount Regency
7. Frostrite
8. The Winter Eclipse
9. In A Deeper World
BORKNAGAR Line-Up (from left to right on band-photo!):
Øystein G. Brun – Clean & Electric Guitars (Cronian, ex Molested)
ICS Vortex – Bass, Clean Vocals & Choirs (Arcturus / ICS Vortex, ex Dimmu Borgir)
Vintersorg – Grim Vocals, Clean Vocals & Choirs (Vintersorg, Fission)
Jens F. Ryland – Lead Guitars (ICS Vortex)
Lars A. Nedland – Keys, Clean Vocals & Choirs (Solefald, ex Carpathian Forest)
Drums and percussion on “Urd” were performed by David Kinkade (Soulfly, ex Malevolent Creation).
BORKNAGAR Live 2012:
04.-07.04. Oslo (Norway) – Inferno Festival / www.infernofestival.net
13.-14.04. Lichtenfels (Germany) – Ragnarök Festival / www.ragnaroek-festival.com
More dates will be announced soon…
More details and information about the album’s release will be issued soon…
Official BORKNAGAR sites:
www.borknagar.com
www.facebook.com/borknagarofficial
Century Media Records online:
www.centurymedia.com
www.facebook.com/centurymedia
www.youtube.com/centurymedia
Century Media webshop:
www.cmdistro.com
Borknagar plays Club Inferno at Volt
January 19, 2012 | Author Jens F. Ryland
We can now announce a concert at the Volt Club in Lørenskog as part of Club Inferno, the exact date is 4th of April 2012. The date for our Inferno gig will be presented at the kickoff on John Dee in Oslo 28th of January. I’ve previously explained what Volt is in the post named “The Volt Chapter“. We will have support from some of the local bands, “Tuesday Forgets” and “We built this Ocean”.
The Volt Chapter
Asgeir and myself flanked by members of Tuesday Forgets and We Built This Ocean.
Recent news from the Borknagar camp is release dates;
GERMANY / AUSTRIA / SWITZERLAND / NORWAY: Friday, March 23, 2012.
UK / BENELUX / FRANCE / GREECE / DENMARK / PORTUGAL / REST OF EUROPE: Monday, March 26, 2012.
SPAIN / ITALY: Tuesday, March 27, 2012.
SWEDEN / FINLAND / HUNGARY: Wednesday, March 28, 2012.
AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND: Friday, March 30, 2012.
And I also want to add the full pressrelease sent out by Century Media naming the title of the album ;
Borknagar-Urd-2012 lineup
BORKNAGAR – Complete work on new studio album; Announce title and release dates!
Norwegian Avantgarde Metallers BORKNAGAR have finalized mixing duties for their upcoming studio album with Jens Bogren at acclaimed Fascination Street Studios (Opeth, Paradise Lost, Katatonia, etc.) in Sweden and have now checked in to announce that the long awaited new effort will be titled “Urd” and is to be released on March 26th, 2012 in Europe as well as March 27th, 2012 in North America via Century Media Records.
BORKNAGAR’s mastermind Øystein G. Brun has checked in with the following message:
“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?!”
Furthermore he explains the album title within the band’s historical context as follows:
“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…”
BORKNAGAR Line-Up:
Øystein G. Brun – Clean & Electric Guitars (Cronian, ex Molested)
Vintersorg – Grim Vocals, Clean Vocals & Choirs (Vintersorg, Fission)
Lars A. Nedland – Keys, Clean Vocals & Choirs (Solefald, ex Carpathian Forest)
Jens F. Ryland – Lead Guitars (ICS Vortex)
ICS Vortex – Bass, Clean Vocals & Choirs (ex Dimmu Borgir, Arcturus, ICS Vortex)
Drums and percussion on “Urd” were performed by David Kinkade (Soulfly, ex Malevolent Creation).
BORKNAGAR Live 2012:
04.-07.04. Oslo (Norway) – Inferno Festival / www.infernofestival.net
13.-14.04. Lichtenfels (Germany) – Ragnarök Festival / www.ragnaroek-festival.com
More dates will be announced soon…
More details and information about the upcoming BORKNAGAR release will be issued soon…
Official BORKNAGAR sites:
www.borknagar.com
www.myspace.com/borknagar
www.facebook.com/borknagarofficial
Century Media Records online:
www.centurymedia.com
www.facebook.com/centurymedia
www.youtube.com/centurymedia
Century Media webshop:
www.cmdistro.com
———–Jens
Borknagar in studio
November 6, 2011 | Author Jens F. Ryland
Sometimes we can’t live up to all our plans and promises, that’s just the way it is. This weekend, Øystein and ICS Vortex has been in studio recording bass, and I was supposed to be there parts of the time. But I have not been feeling well and chose to stay home, and with that all my plans to show pictures and maybe make some video is out the window. To add to the problems Øystein hasn’t been able to update the Borknagar Twitter account like he wanted to. At least he sent me a couple of pictures:
Borknagar studio- ICS Vortex
Borknagar studio- Børge Finstad
Borknagar studio- Øystein G. Brun
I guess Øystein will make another update with more pictures on the Borknagar website
The past week started with Halloween and a nice present from Century Media, a free compilation for downloading, among these; “A Free ICS Vortex song”
Then Asgeir made a his own compilation, this time of Youtube- videos showing “Star Wars in TV- commercials“, and to make the variation nice and spread he also had series of photos from when he was “Hunting Pigeons” with his brother.
The most popular post this week was not doubt the announcement of another “Arcturus gig“, they are always popular. And when Asgeir saw that “Commodore 64 has made a new model” he simply had to make a retro post about it he he.
And that’s about it.
————-Jens
Borknagar needs a new drummer!
October 25, 2011 | Author Jens F. Ryland
Lets start with the announcement at the Borknagar web today:
BORKNAGAR
PRESS RELEASE OCTOBER 2011
BORKNAGAR part ways with drummer David Kinkade
BORKNAGAR has decided to part ways with the US drummer David Kinkade. This is first and foremost due to the logistical challenges we have been facing having a US drummer in a Norwegian band the last couple of years. Sometimes reality bites and in order to be a fully operative band, we need a drummer based in Norway. The split is of friendly manner and we would like to say thanks for everything David has contributed with in relations to the band and we would also like to wish him the best of luck for his future endeavours.
BORKNAGAR is currently finishing up the recording of the 9th. album which is planned to be released early next year. As we speak Vintersorg and ICS Vortex are working on the vocal arrangements and we are all exited about the new effort we currently are brewing. The album will be mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren in Fascination Street Studio later this years.
More details and information will be issued soon!
Øystein G. Brun
Last time we needed a drummer, Dave was very eager to try out. We didn’t like the fact that he didn’t live in Norway due to the logistic side of things, but at this time we had no ambitions to play live more then the occasional festival gig. And Dave joined. He first did the album “Universal”, then we played at Wacken as mentioned and also did 3 other gigs in Germany and Holland.
Our ambitions increased, some of you remember our efforts to do a tour in South America perhaps? With these plans, Dave suggested to move to Norway. That turned out not to be an easy process and he gave up on that sometime in the summer this year and went back to USA. And we were back to start, but with more need of a drummer in Norway then ever! Dave also got the gig as session drummer with Soulfly, giving him even more reason to stay in USA.
With that as the most significant reason we have decided to part with Dave and look for a new drummer located closer to the band. And I want to make a point out of that letting go of Dave isn’t a sign of us loosing our ambitions, quite opposite we want to play more live, but with less logistic hustle. Hopefully we can soon start to reveal our plans, lets see.
In Borknagar history we have had several drummers. All unique in their way, strong personalities and inventive in their style. Dave now joins these ranks and we need a new one.
This will not slow or affect the current progress in any way, there are many drummers around and we will start the process to tame another one for the upcoming shows.
—————–Jens
