[Cover photo credit to Amanda Lindelöf]

Swedish Extreme Metal band Kvaen will release their third album, and first for Metal Blade Records, The Formless Fires, on June 21, 2024.

The band hail from Kalix, a remote “beauty spot” near the Finnish border, on the northernmost shores of the Baltic. It’s there that Jacob Björnfot, the creative force behind Melodic Black/Death metal project got his start.

The new album is an “exploration of beauty and violence,” and is derived from an “inspirational sense of place.” Vast pine woods and icy lakes are reflected in the tracks.

Illuminating some of the lyrical themes, Björnfot says:

I love mythology. ’Basilisk‘ is, for example, the king of serpents but is rarely mentioned by the mainstream. ’The Perpetual Darkness‘ is about being born different from those who are ’normal.‘ It is also about being a lone wolf and banished from society. That song has become a personal favorite of mine. Additionally, ’De Dödas Sång (Song Of The Dead)‘ tackles the disturbing theme of Ättestupa, the ancient Norse suicide ritual whereby elderly villagers jump to their deaths from sheer precipices.