Vreid are no strangers to unveiling heavy hitting, classic, and slightly symphonic black metal with a historical flair, but they’ve outdone themselves this time with Wild North West. Out now via Season of Mist, the record is paired with a short film, both of which tell the story of a soldier returning from war to meet a harsh, unforgiving homeland.
“It started off because I had some ideas for music videos, and we did some livestreaming last summer, and I had a really good connection with a producer there, so I presented him with the idea of doing something we’ve never done before, and setting up a full, music movie,” says Vreid bassist Jarle Kvåle, stage name Hvàll. “I always wanted to do something like this I haven’t done before and find new obstacles and challenges. We kind of just wanted to dive into the unknown and see where it leads.”
While Kvåle points out that you can also just listen to the record without the accompanying music video and get a lot out of it, he claims that if you watch the film, it will “open up a new dimension” in terms of the imagery and atmosphere that come with the music.
“I usually base my writing on historical themes, but I like to blend that with my own thoughts and fiction, so it kind of becomes my own story,” he says. “For this one, my main source of inspiration was sailors coming back from the war. Those who were in the Second World War went out and had all kinds of traumas, all kinds of horrible experiences, and then coming back to their home country, they weren’t prepared at all. Soldiers were put into mental institutions and treated in horrible ways. So, that was the backbone of the story, and then we kind of wrote our own story based on historical events, and it turned into historical fiction.”
“I’ve always been interested in history, that’s something that’s been with me my whole life, and just a couple miles from where I live, there is this big, abandoned asylum where some of these people actually went after the Second World War. The stories I’ve heard and read about the people who were there or who worked there kind of stuck with me, and led me to think there are so many stories out there that need to be told. It’s kind of inspiring to write a story about something in my own backyard.”
Stay tuned for tour and music announcements from Vreid as the world opens back up.
Watch the video for “Shadows of Aurora” here:
For more from Vreid, find them on Facebook, Bandcamp, and their official website.
Photo courtesy of Vreid and Nesbo Talle.
