AN NCS PREMIERE: SVART LOTUS — “UNDERGANG”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Mar 082021
 

 

What we are about to present is, among other things, a fascinating case study in how talented musicians can take a song by a different artist with a dramatically different style from their own and transform it into something new — something of their own — while still retaining a connection to the original. Of course, you could just call it a “cover”, but that seems like an inadequate label for the kind of wonderful interweaving of artistry that has been created here.

The song in question is “Undergang“. It was written and originally recorded by a Norwegian folk musician named Stein Torleif Bjella, and it appeared on his 2013 album Heim For å Døy. The cover of the song, which we’re now premiering, was created by the Norwegian black metal band Svart Lotus, and it adds to the already significant proof that Svart Lotus isn’t just another black metal band, but a particularly distinctive one that goes its own (very captivating) way.

By way of background for those just now discovering the band, allow us to repeat a few things we wrote the last time we premiered a Svart Lotus single: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SVART LOTUS — “NEKROESTETIKK”

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Jun 152020
 

 

Sometimes bands that begin as “side projects” are destined to live in the shadows of their members’ main bands, even when all evidence demonstrates that they have become living things in their own right, with their own personalities and strengths, and bright futures of their own. That is certainly true of the Norwegian black metal band Svart Lotus, which began as the solo project of 1349 bassist Tor R. Stavenes and has come to include Disintegration members Eivin Brye (drums) and Øyvind Kaslegard (bass), as well as guitarist Sigve Jordheim.

This isn’t to suggest that people are failing to give Svart Lotus the recognition they deserve, but it might be to suggest that not enough people are doing that. The band may have begun as a way for Tor R. Stavenes to spread his wings, picking up the guitar and using his own voice and songwriting talents, but it has blossomed into a musically compelling entity that’s both true to the spirit of Norwegian black metal but also adventurous. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW (PART 2): SEIDEMANN (1349, SVART LOTUS, MORTEM)

 Interviews  No Responses »
May 022019
 

 

(One of our Norway-based contributors, Karina Noctum, brought us this two-part interview of Seidemann, long-time bassist for 1349 and the principal creative force behind Svart Lotus. The interview was conducted shortly before 1349‘s recent performance at Inferno Festival in Oslo, this is the final installment. Go here to read Part 1. The interview includes photos from Inferno Fest by Metal Exposure and Silje Storm Drabitius, and we thank them for allowing us to use them.)

This is the second installment of the interview conducted with Seidemann (bass) from 1349 at this year’s Inferno Festival in Oslo. This time it deals with what to expect from the new 1349 album, news about other musical projects, and information about future plans when it comes to touring and the releasing of new material. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW (PART 1): SEIDEMANN (1349, SVART LOTUS)

 Interviews  No Responses »
May 012019
 

 

(One of our Norway-based contributors, Karina Noctum, brought us this two-part interview of Seidemann, long-time bassist for 1349 and the principal creative force behind Svart Lotus. The interview was conducted shortly before 1349‘s recent performance at Inferno Festival in Oslo and will be continued tomorrow. The interview includes photos from Inferno Fest by Metal Exposure and Silje Storm Drabitius, and we thank them for allowing us to use them.)

Before 1349‘s majestic performance of pure Black Metal immersed in aural hellfire at this year’s Inferno Festival in Oslo, I got the pleasure to interview Seidemann (bass). This is the first part of the interview, in which Seidemann presents insights about the creative process behind the band’s latest EP, Dødskamp, which was a musical interpretation of a work bearing the same name by the famed Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, and an in-depth talk about Seidemann‘s band Svart Lotus.

Here you will also find some information about what is to come for 1349 in the near future, and that topic will be further extended to the second part of the interview to be published later. Continue reading »

CONCERT REVIEW: RIDERS OF THE APOCALYPSE (1349, SVART LOTUS, SUPERLYNX)

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Dec 262018
 

 

(Norway-based NCS contributor Karina Noctum prepared this review of the Riders of the Apocalypse show that took place in Oslo on December 19th.)

I usually publish reviews of concerts in Oslo just for a Norwegian audience, but I think this concert review can be of interest for the international NCS audience. The NCS statistics for 2018 were really cool. I must say I was impressed with the amount of visits (more than 1.7 million) and I’m pretty glad we have readers from more than 100 countries all over this small planet. I would like to thank everyone who supports NCS and all those who read my occasional contributions. It is my wish for 2019 to be able to contribute even more!

The first thing that caught my attention when I saw the line-up for the concert that took place the 19th this month was Svart Lotus. I had heard about the band before and knew it was 1349‘s bassist who was behind the project. But as to what the other band playing Riders of the Apocalypse could be exactly I wasn’t sure at first. The other band scheduled to play was going to be Superlynx, and I had heard from some rock-knowledgeable friends that they were good, but I hadn’t really checked the band for myself as I tend to have just enough time for metal. So I figured I would go based mainly on the 1349 connection. Continue reading »