Black metal project ÓREIĐA announce their new album ‘The Eternal’ and share a first track

Transforming the frostbitten atmosphere of cavernous Northern Iceland into hypnotic aural form, Black Metal project ÓREIĐA announce their forthcoming new album. “The Eternal” – the band’s second full-length and DMP debut – is a contemplative trek into the haunted sublime: traces of Post-punk, Shoegaze and Industrial are filtered through the lens of totemic ’90s Black Metal into five transcendent and trance-inducing tracks:

01. The Path
02. The River
03. The Climb
04. The Apex
05. The Eternal

The music was recorded by composer and sole member Þórir G. Jónsson (“Thor“) who is also responsible for the cover artwork and layout.

Thor discusses creating “The Eternal“:

“The album was mostly written in 2020 although the first ideas started gestating a couple of years before that. I made the first recordings while writing the songs and then I stepped away from them for a bit before returning to them and finishing them up with a fresh perspective. There isn’t a formula to how my songs get written, but it is common for the initial spark to be a melody of some sorts. Something that comes to me or even something I hear in other music that inspires me and makes me pick up the guitar. The songs aren’t written in such a way as perhaps pop/rock songs are typically composed. It is closer to how visual Art is made in the sense that it starts out with a small element/idea that I slowly build on/sculpt, add to and subtract from until it starts to sound like something resembling a song.“

The raw, emotive compositions conjure vivid images of nature’s forces throwing the fate of man into jeopardy. Thor‘s explains the primordial intent behind his music:

“ÓREIĐA is a very conceptual project and it exists within its own universe. It’s based both in reality and in fiction. One of the things I really love about the bands of the Second Wave is that they allowed themselves to look beyond reality into the fantastical. To me, it is an important part of spiritual, and magickal, thinking to be able to see the world not only for what it is but what it could possibly become. Imagination is a very important tool for me not only when it comes to creating Art but also when it comes to how I view the world. Hopefully my music expresses those sentiments!”

Unveiling the title track as the first album teaser, ÓREIĐA display a mysterious, almost neo-romantic atmosphere achieved through hypnotic riffing which utilises the harsh soundscapes of early ’90s Black Metal.

Listen here:

Thor explains:

“‘The Eternal‘ is the final song on the long player. It carries the name of the album because it is the crescendo, the final chapter. The album was built around a concept and the song titles came very late in the process and the decision to name the album after this song came even later. It made sense to me. I feel like the whole album builds towards this final track and that it is in a way it’s centerpiece (even though it is the final track). I certainly am heavily influenced by the Norwegian second wave bands and I am not shy about it. I suppose in a way I am always chasing the magical, life altering, feeling of hearing “Transilvanian Hunger” for the first time.“

“The Eternal” will be released via Debemur Morti Productions as CD, vinyl and digitally on May 12th. Pre-orders are possible via the label’s EU, US and Bandcamp shops.

ÓREIĐA is an experimental, atmospheric Black Metal band from the northern parts of Iceland. Having grown up with the classics of the 90s, ÓREIĐA‘s music is both a study of the intricacies of these legendary albums as well as an exploration in how far typical Black Metal elements can be stretched and pushed in new directions.

Starting with “Demó I” ÓREIĐA unveiled a handful of demos and a split before releasing the self-titled debut in 2019. Praised for its unique sound, Dutch Pearce from Decibel stated: “In a genre mired in tradition and thronged by lifeless clones, ÓREIĐA already stands out as a singular work of Art!“

ÓREIĐA will unveil its new album via DMP in 2023.