Vemod unveil the first video single ‘Der guder dør’ (“Where Gods Die”) taken from the Norwegian darkgaze metal pioneers’ forthcoming sophomore album “The Deepening”, which is slated for release on January 19, 2024.
The video ‘Der guder dør’ is available via this link: https://youtu.be/uLh6yNFMcE8
Vemod comment: “I never ever expected to make a video for Vemod, and when the good people of Prophecy Productions approached me about it, I was initially skeptical”, mastermind Jan Even Åsli reveals. “Despite my reservations, ideas began to spring forth almost immediately. The landscapes surrounding us here at home in the north have always been a most integral element of our work and have provided boundless inspiration since the very beginning. The only natural thing to do was to journey back home and try to capture a tiny bit of that old yet ever-present magic – this time in the form of moving pictures. It could work. It just had to be suitably subtle and unassuming in order to reflect the spirit of both the music and of the land it came from. We leave it up to you to decide whether we succeeded or not. Enjoy your travels.”
Video credit: Video production by Vilde Dyrnes Ulriksen / Footage by J. E. Åsli
Tracklist “The Deepening”: 1. Mot oss, en ild 2. Der guder dør 3. True North Beckons 4. Fra drømmenes bok I 5. Inn i lysande natt 6. The Deepening
Vemod are by no means an average band. The Norwegians exist in the liminal spaces and the crossroads of place on a vertical axis and time along a horizontal axis.
The trio has chiselled their sophomore full-length “The Deepening” from the same sonic granite that its predecessor “Venter på stormene” came from over a decade ago. This bedrock is found in Namsos, where Vemod were conceived as a lifelong passion project at the turn of the century by then 12-year old Jan Even Åsli.
Namsos lies a roughly 3-hour car ride over the spectacular fjords and mountains of Norway’s western coast away from the city of Trondheim. There the fiercely individual local Nidrosian black metal scene, which refers to the city’s original name, provided Vemod with its first point of musical reference and a part of their spirit as embodied by the first demo “Kringom fjell og skog” (2004).
Moving along the axis of time, Vemod have always refused to bow to outside pressures and consciously left their music to ripen and keep changing shape along the way until they were completely satisfied with the outcome. Therefore, when the Norwegians reemerged seven years later with both the track “Moestæ Qverelæ” on a split with German project KLAGE and the demo “Vinterilden” in 2011, they had considerably changed.
Vemod had not only moved through time, they had shifted in place. While a part of them remained connected to the harsh Nidrosian blackness, the trio had taken a step outside by strengthening elements that already been present before: a sprinkle of the majesty reminding of early IN THE WOODS…, a dash of melancholia, and a knife tip of introvert contemplation among a wide range of emotional and vivid sonic imagery.
Vemod‘s musical transition finds comparable parallels in the development of French brothers-in-spirit ALCEST even though there was no direct influence flowing either way. The sound of the Norwegians firmly remained tied to the darkness of their home, but by opening themselves to a wide range of highly cinematic forms of expressions, Vemod became in hindsight pioneers of currently extremely popular styles that they never subscribed to such as blackgaze and post-black metal.
Taking only a little step in time by releasing their debut full-length “Venter på stormene” just a year later in 2012, opened a much wider space for Vemod to take their music to new places: A mind-blowing performance at the prestigious Beyond the Gates festival in 2013 and the legendary special show within the national treasure of the Vigeland Mausoleum at Oslo’s Inferno Festival 2014 cemented Vemod‘s excellent reputation even across the Atlantic.
While Vemod continued to win over new places and ever growing audiences attracted by word of mouth, the Norwegians again took their time. Over a decade after their last release, they finally feel prepared to unleash their highly anticipated second album “The Deepening” onto a waiting world.
Once again, Vemod also shifted in place. “The Deepening” arrives with a different production, which resulted in a changed overall tone compared to earlier works and the Norwegians also reached out and tapped into new stylistic strata adding further elements to their sound.
Even the lyrical themes running through “The Deepening” tell of change, transience, transformation, and growth. Both music and words provide new insights and perspectives that change the way to see and approach life, if accepted. “The Deepening” offers an opportunity to look past long held beliefs and comforting illusions. Truth can be both very painful and also intensely beautiful. One truth is that at the crossroads of Vemod‘s second album at this point in space and time waits a deepening of the world.
Vemod line-up: Jan Even Åsli – lead & rhythm guitars, clean vocals, synths, all composition & lyrics / Eskil Blix – drums, harsh vocals / Espen Kalstad – bass
Recorded & mixed by Pål Gaupseth at Nordstern Studios, Trondheim / Mastered by Rhys Marsh at Autumnsongs Recording Studio, Trondheim / Produced by Jan Even Åsli & Vemod / Cover artwork by Ørnulf Opdahl / Layout by Eskil Blix & Vemod
Shop http://lnk.spkr.media/deepening
Available formats: “The Deepening” is available as 2-CD 60-page hardcover artbook, black vinyl LP, ltd. marble blue, black, and white vinyl LP, as Digipak CD, and as a ltd. tape cassette.
