Welcome to a brand new feature where we sit down and talk to bands and artists about their latest albums to find out all about it. Today we speak to Stein from the band Minneriket about the new album “A Decade of Darkness: 10 Years of Romantic Black Metal.

Hello nice to meet you, tell us about yourself!

I’m Stein Akslen from the Norwegian one-man band Minneriket. 

Tell us about the new album

Minneriket is about to release the album “A Decade of Darkness: 10 Years of Romantic Black Metal” very soon. It’s 10 years since I founded Minneriket, so I wanted to do something a little special for the die hard fans. A Decade of Darkness will be a limited cassette tape release only, curated by myself, collecting songs that I think sums up the carreer to this day in a good way. Some obvious favourites but also some deep cuts. 

The pre-order will open in a short while, and the cassette tape will be released this autumn. The music is already available on Spotify as a playlist with the same name, which serves as a good entry point for new listeners.

Favourite track in new album and why?

I can’t really choose, especially since it’s a compilation album – they’re all favourites of mine. But I can tell you that “Å følge spor” is special since it was the opening track from the debut album, and “Of Storms and Sorrows” is the song I have recorded the most in many different styles just because it works no matter what. There’s even an acoustic version of it, maybe I’ll release that one on the 20th anniversary…

Tell us a bit about the recording process, was it fun to do?

Since this is a compilation album there was no new recording sessions, but rather it’s been recorded over the last 10 years. I don’t think I’d ever use the word “fun” about the recording process, though. I’d say it’s rewarding and stimulating, and it brings a distinct form of catharsis. But never “fun”.

What inspired the album name?

I think “A Decade of Darkness: 10 Years of Romantic Black Metal” is pretty self-explanatory. No cryptic interpretations needed!

Tell us the idea behind the album cover?

The anatomical heart, strained by rope, and with the prison door is such a powerful icon. It’s based on a sketch I did myself a few years ago, and perfected by Alan Forbes. Doing the colours in grey instead of the usual black and white aesthetics also helps set this somewhat a part from a lot of other releases. I wanted the right combination of suffocating intimacy and fighting spirit for this, and think I captured it well. There are of course many layers of meaning to the artwork, and it wouldn’t be right for me to force-feed anyone my own interpretations.

What one of your songs on the new album do you think will the most difficult to rehearse for a live audience?

Minneriket doesn’t play live, so that’s not really an issue I worry about. But of course, songs like “Regnbuer i gråtoner” and “Sorg og savn” features a lot of session musicians for the recording with different vocalists and a string quartet, and would be pretty complex to do in a live scene. And “The Ballad of Ordinary Flowers” have 13 guitar tracks, so that too would be a challenge…

Why should people listen to the album?

The limited edition physical release is mostly for the die hard fans, and I expect it to sell out immediatly when the pre-order is open. But the digital playlist is for “everyone”. I think it’s a good place to start if you want to know what Minneriket is about, if you’re hungry for something else than the traditional riff-by-recipe approach too many bands use these days. Minneriket is for those who are looking for something different.