Keep of kalessin

The musical group Keep of Kalessin was formed in 1993 by two musicians Ghash and Obsidian Claw and was originally called Ildskjaer ^[1] . A little later they were joined by Vyl and Warach. Black metal was chosen as the musical direction, and the literary legacy of Ursula Le Guin on the world of the Earth Sea was the lyrical component ^[2] . In the fall of 1996, the group recorded their debut musical material in the form of a demo tape called Skygger av Sorg . Although the recording quality left much to be desired, the demo itself was distributed only among about 10 different labels and publications ^{[2], the} group managed to conclude an agreement with such a famous label as Avantgarde Music . And in the summer of 1997, the debut full-length album Through Times of War was recorded at Brygga Studios in his native Trondheim.

The next album saw the light only two years later and was called Agnen: A Journey Through the Dark . On this album, the group somewhat departed from the style of black metal adding elements of death and thrash metal to their music ^[2] . The band also recorded a cover version of Mayhem’s Buried by Time and Dust for the tribute album by the latest Originators of the Northern Darkness . In 2000, the group underwent serious internal changes: in fact, its only member is Obsidian Claw . However, he did not stop musical activity and, along the way, searching for new musicians, slowly wrote new material. Soon, Obsidian Claw becomes a concert member of Satyricon , whose drummer , upon hearing the material from Obsidian Claw , agreed to participate in the recording. Thus, the Reclaim mini-album appeared, where in addition to Frost, Atthem Chihar from Mayhem participated.

The starry, but, nevertheless, temporary composition of the group attracted attention, in connection with which the group quickly became famous. From the organizers of the concerts, proposals for performances were followed, the old drummer returned to the group, a new bass player and vocalist came. With the new line-up, the group begins to prepare a full-length album, which was released on April 3, 2006 via the Tabu Recordings label and was epic in musical and conceptual lyrical terms. Also in 2006, the band embarks on their first tour of Europe, performing with Satyricon and Carpathian Forest .

In December 2009, Keep of Kalessin submitted an application to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, planning to introduce Norway with the song “The Dragon Tower”.

• Obsidian Claw - guitar, keyboards, vocals and backing vocals ^[4]
• Wizziac - Bass and Back Vocals ^[5]
• Vyl - drums and guitar ^[6]

• 1997 - Skygger av Sorg (demo)
• 1997 - Through Times of War
• 1999 - Agnen: A Journey Through the Dark
• 2003 - Reclaim (EP)
• 2006 - Armada
• 2008 - Kolossus
• 2010 - Reptilian
• 2013 - Introspection (EP)
• 2015 - Epistemology
• 2016 - Heaven Of Sin (EP)

• keepofkalessin.no - official website of Keep of Kalessin
• The official Keep of Kalessin Myspace page
• Keep of Kalessin on Rate Your Music
• Keep of Kalessin on Discogs
• Group biography on Allmusic website