The new album by melodic black death metal band KVAEN from Sweden!

Though perhaps not the most notorious purveyor of black metal in the 1990s; Sweden arguably birthed the scene that could boast the most intricate take on the Northern European brand of auditory coldness. Sticking closer to the death metal practices that had immediately preceded it and being less prone towards the rustic minimalism that had become the trademarks of Norwegian icons like Mayhem, Burzum and Darkthrone, it was a more common occurrence for the visual of Norse conquerors to march into battle to be accompanied by more virtuosic sense of musicianship from guitarist and drummer alike.

One-man project Kvaen, an effort born almost three decades after the blackened arts had supplanted the physically moribund ones as the extreme fringe of metal expression, has been one of the more impressive examples of this art being delivered in a modern, higher fidelity package; and it’s 3rd and latest studio venture The Formless Fires ups the raw intensity and technical prowess ante even further.

Orange Marble LP + download-card.