THE BEAST

Today, new Norwegian blackened Viking heavy metal band HJELVIK have released their first ever single 'North Tsar', accompanied by a video. The track is taken from their debut studio album Welcome to Hel that will be released on November 20th 2020 via Nuclear Blast.

HJELVIK is the new solo band of ex-KVELERTAK frontman, lyricist and co-founder Erlend Hjelvik. After touring worldwide with some of the world's greatest bands such as Metallica, Slayer and Ghost, earning four Norwegian Spelleman awards along the way, Erlend parted ways with his band mates in 2018 and has spent the last two years songwriting and creating HJELVIK's first album.

Front-man Erlend Hjelvik comments: "It feels great to finally give people the first taste of what's to come with this awesome video for 'North Tsar' that the talented guys at Grupa13 created for me!"

Erlend adds: "It was a cool experience, the day corona-restrictions lifted, I took the first flight from Norway to Poland and we shot the whole video in one day in a Viking village called Jomsborg. Grupa13 did an excellent job with their team including well-trained Viking re-enactors, an amazing SFX crew and even brought in wolves and a huge raven. It was an intense and efficient shoot. It felt crazy to be standing in the middle of a Viking battle while performing my song, especially since the village was open to tourists who appeared midway through to stand there, gawk and take selfies… making the experience slightly more bizarre! Nonetheless, I had a great time and I’m extremely pleased with the result!"

Watch the uncensored video here (premieres on 19th September at 11am):

Or watch the censored version below now:

HJELVIK's first solo album Welcome to Hel, based on Norse mythology and history, includes all the trappings of a lucrative Viking pillage. The album was recorded and mixed at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, Oregon, USA by Justin Phelps (Joe Satriani, Poison Idea, Slough Feg) and finalised by Grammy award-winning mastering engineer, Alan Douches (Mastodon, Converge, Baroness). Special guest appearances by Matt Pike (Sleep, High on Fire) and Mike Scalzi (Slough Feg) are also included. The legendary Joe Petagno created the Welcome to Hel album artwork and HJELVIK logo - responsible for creating the timeless iconic images we all know from bands like Motörhead, Led Zeppelin, Nazareth.

Watch HJELVIK's announcement (English) here:

HJELVIK is:
Erlend Hjelvik – Vocals, Lyrics and Songwriting
Rob Steinway – Lead Guitar
Remi André Nygård – Rhythm Guitar
Alexis Lieu – Bass
Kevin Foley – Drums

More Info:
hjelvikmetal.com/
nblast.de/HJELVIKyoutube 
facebook.com/HJELVIKmetal
instagram.com/hjelvikmetal/
twitter.com/HJELVIKofficial
hjelvikmetal.bandcamp.com/