THE BEAST

Minneriket - "Gjennom Meg Går Ingen Til Hvile" - Reviewed At extrememetalmaniacblog ! Check it out here at this link: https://extrememetalmaniacblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/minneriket-gjennom-meg-gar-ingen-til.html

So when it comes to the most anticipated releases for 2022 I saw in December that this Norwegian BM act had a new album coming out. Now maybe for your average extreme metal fan the name MINNERIKET wouldn't ring a bell. But for me oh hell yes it does.

I first learned about this one man black metal act from Norway, the one man being Stein Akslen, a few years ago. I had listened to his album Anima Sola from 2018. What made that album a favorite of mine that year was how Stein Akslen's approach to traditional atmospheric black metal. He basically takes the basic genre template and adds unconventional influences to broaden the sound. 

Stein Akslen is the main vocalist and multi-instrumentalist but he adds additional musicians and vocalists in order to create his vision. On this latest one he comes across as a composer conducting a small orchestra. His additional helpers consist of various string instrument musicians, percussionists, keyboardists and a bevy of female singers. Of course the end result is another successful experiment into pushing the boundaries of black metal.

On his last album, Anima Sola, Akslen provided a lot of post-punk and gothic doom influences. This one still contains plenty of gothic doom which creates an atmosphere of melancholy beauty. With his added BM influences as well as harsh vocals cutting through like a flaming sword, things become more like a treat. But for most of this album it's like symphonic metal crashing head long into traditional atmospheric black metal. No it's not symphonic black metal!

The use of the varied female vocalists works well. Oh yeah and only Akslen could make a sinister sounding Hammond organ sound black metal. Add to that the various times the vocals carry an almost folk metal pedigree. All of this is a cool bridge to the over whelming sinister atmosphere which pervades these songs. I look at this album as one of those late night engrossing affairs. 

Once again MINNERIKET have produced an amazing release. It's a listening pleasure that will captivate you. It's the opera soundtrack of the macabre. A late night adventure with so many epic turns which dive into the abyss. I love it. - extrememetalmaniacblog

Release Date: January 21, 2022

FFO: Myrkur, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir

Location: Norway

The music available on "Gjennom meg går ingen til hvile" is in the style of the band's previous two singles. The album features a pretty big roster of session musicians, even more than on the first two singles. Some are amateurs, some are more known people.

Stein Akslen has done extensive field-recordings out in nature to supplement the compositions on the album. He comments: «That had me sleeping outside in the forests for a few nights to record an owl, and all other sounds - including wolves - are real. There are no samples at all on the album.

He adds: «In total I have been working on this album for about 6 years now. There's a lot of memories tied up on it, and it will be dedicated in loving memory to those we have lost. Some of the lyrics on the album actually dates back about 17 years, so I've used this album to really go full circle.

Check out these videos!

Check them out on Spotify and add them to your playlists!

Produced and mixed by Stein Akslen at Hagall studios.
Recorded on various locations throughout the world.
All field-recordings done on location in Norway.
Mastering by Niklas Kveldulfsson.

Tracklist:
Så kald en jord
Hjemlengsel
Begravelsens hjerteslag
Regnbuer i gråtoner
Sorg og savn
Solnedgang
Hvil i fred
Forglemmegei
Nåde
11379

 
Line-up:
Stein Akslen: Compositions, lyrics, guitars, lead vocals, field-recordings, synth and additional instruments.

Session musicians:
Misstiq: Additional compositions, keys
Māra Lisenko: Vocals
Christina Rotondo: Vocals
Niklas Kveldulfsson: Drums
Ingrid.mariea: Vocals
Maria Kosma: Bass
Margarita Chernova: Strings
Norlene Olmedo: Cello
Kyba: Vocals
Elvann: Harp
Kim Fleuchaus: Flute
Thomas Englmann: Saxophone
Jenny Modeman: Additional vocals
C80: Additional keys
Li: Gong
Temu: Additional vocals
Elsewhere choir: Choir

Follow the band at these links:

https://www.minneriket.com/

https://minneriket.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/minneriket

https://www.youtube.com/user/V0idKhaos

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2jJuWRiEJo9wwyO6dnrzyl

https://www.instagram.com/minneriket/

https://twitter.com/minneriket

https://soundcloud.com/minneriket