FÖRGJORD

Today, Werewolf Records announces September 13th as the international release date for Förgjord‘s highly anticipated seventh album, Perkeleen Weri, on CD format. The vinyl LP version will follow later.

For years one of Finnish black metal’s best-kept secrets, in recent times have Förgjord sprung to prominence among the adventurous as practitioners of a strangely alluring sort of obsidian. Although existing since the mid ’90s and patiently parceling out their recordings in an almost-clandestine manner, the upswing in activity began with Förgjord‘s third album (and first with Werewolf), Uhripuu, in 2017 and was followed by the equally challenging Ilmestykset in 2019, the comparatively more rockin’ Laulu kuolemasta a year later, and the draw-everything together Ruumissaarna Pt. 1 in 2022. Among those four full-lengths, the Finnish trio solidified and strengthened their strident aesthetic – malodorous melodicism, hypnotically rendered through a ripped-raw soundfield, making their strangely hummable ruminations on triumph & tragedy sound all the more alien, each album unified yet unique within that aesthetic – and made it all seem effortless. Finally, it seemed that the name Förgjord was no longer a “secret.”

As such, it makes total sense for Förgjord to strike back with inarguably their most-direct and least-tweaked album yet: Perkeleen Weri. The band’s seventh full-length, Perkeleen Weri is definitely – and immediately – recognizable as Förgjord, maintaining mostly all those above characteristics and chiseled into new-yet-familiar shapes. However, the distinct difference here is that the band have dialed down the atmosphere for the sake of the almighty RIFF. Indeed, Perkeleen Weri is rife with riffs…riff after riff after riff after RIFF, all of them rough and rowdy and catchy and cantankerous. It’s a sonic / psychic move back to ancient times, primordial “regression” of a most ’80s manner (or, at the very least, the very early ’90s) that’s symbolic of both youth and older age. While nostalgic in essence, the burning-black flame here strides forward, ready to burn past, present, and future; suitably, the execution and especially recording feel almost clearheaded in context, or at least Förgjord‘s most crystalized attack yet. Melodicism abounds, of course, but there’s a murderous edge to Perkeleen Weri that’s never been this fully explored. Add to that palpitating attack a tasteful dose of organ and some chorus FX and you have a black metal record that’s simultaneously traditional and nuanced.

“Perkeleen Weri is an album which is dedicated to glory days of black metal,” explains founding guitarist / bassist Valgrinder, “when things were pure and albums were built more on guitar riffs and not just atmosphere, when songs themselves weren’t hidden behind hellish tempos or under huge production. Perkeleen Weri is a pure, naked, and shameless album, for both good and bad – nothing more, nothing less.”

As always, a carefully cultivated lyricism informs Förgjord‘s latest work. Valgrinder again: “Lyrically, it is a compilation of small stories from our part of Savo area, stories that were told from one generation to the next. Whispered secrets, well-known tragedies, and horror stories that were told to children to keep them safe; memories from old days when brother stood against his brother – the untold sins of Finland’s civil war, wounds that never healed properly. It’s about hard times, when depression took over the lands and charlatans tried to exploit the common man – when the blood of Perkele was running and people did whatever they had to, just to survive. We are here not to judge, but to speak their stories.”

In the meantime, see & hear the recently revealed video for “Käärmeenkieli” here:

Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Förgjord’s Perkeleen Weri
1. Silmäinkääntäjä
2. Käärmeenkieli
3. Neljäs Lapsi Saatanalle
4. Loukatun Kunnia
5. Kalm
6. Raskas Veden Taakka
7. Pettävä Suo

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/forgjord

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www.werewolf.fi
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Today, Finnish black metallers Förgjord reveal the new video “Käärmeenkieli.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated seventh album, Perkeleen Weri, which should see release via Werewolf Records during the second half of 2024. See & hear Förgjord‘s “Käärmeenkieli” video in its entirety here:

For years one of Finnish black metal’s best-kept secrets, in recent times have Förgjord sprung to prominence among the adventurous as practitioners of a strangely alluring sort of obsidian. Although existing since the mid ’90s and patiently parceling out their recordings in an almost-clandestine manner, the upswing in activity began with Förgjord‘s third album (and first with Werewolf), Uhripuu, in 2017 and was followed by the equally challenging Ilmestykset in 2019, the comparatively more rockin’ Laulu kuolemasta a year later, and the draw-everything together Ruumissaarna Pt. 1 in 2022. Among those four full-lengths, the Finnish trio solidified and strengthened their strident aesthetic – malodorous melodicism, hypnotically rendered through a ripped-raw soundfield, making their strangely hummable ruminations on triumph & tragedy sound all the more alien, each album unified yet unique within that aesthetic – and made it all seem effortless. Finally, it seemed that the name Förgjord was no longer a “secret.”

As such, it makes total sense for Förgjord to strike back with inarguably their most-direct and least-tweaked album yet: Perkeleen Weri. The band’s seventh full-length, Perkeleen Weri is definitely – and immediately – recognizable as Förgjord, maintaining mostly all those above characteristics and chiseled into new-yet-familiar shapes. However, the distinct difference here is that the band have dialed down the atmosphere for the sake of the almighty RIFF. Indeed, Perkeleen Weri is rife with riffs…riff after riff after riff after RIFF, all of them rough and rowdy and catchy and cantankerous. It’s a sonic / psychic move back to ancient times, primordial “regression” of a most ’80s manner (or, at the very least, the very early ’90s) that’s symbolic of both youth and older age. While nostalgic in essence, the burning-black flame here strides forward, ready to burn past, present, and future; suitably, the execution and especially recording feel almost clearheaded in context, or at least Förgjord‘s most crystalized attack yet. Melodicism abounds, of course, but there’s a murderous edge to Perkeleen Weri that’s never been this fully explored. Add to that palpitating attack a tasteful dose of organ and some chorus FX and you have a black metal record that’s simultaneously traditional and nuanced.

“Perkeleen Weri is an album which is dedicated to glory days of black metal,” explains founding guitarist / bassist Valgrinder, “when things were pure and albums were built more on guitar riffs and not just atmosphere, when songs themselves weren’t hidden behind hellish tempos or under huge production. Perkeleen Weri is a pure, naked, and shameless album, for both good and bad – nothing more, nothing less.”

As always, a carefully cultivated lyricism informs Förgjord‘s latest work. Valgrinder again: “Lyrically, it is a compilation of small stories from our part of Savo area, stories that were told from one generation to the next. Whispered secrets, well-known tragedies, and horror stories that were told to children to keep them safe; memories from old days when brother stood against his brother – the untold sins of Finland’s civil war, wounds that never healed properly. It’s about hard times, when depression took over the lands and charlatans tried to exploit the common man – when the blood of Perkele was running and people did whatever they had to, just to survive. We are here not to judge, but to speak their stories.”Release date, cover, tracklisting to be announced shortly.

For more info, consult the links below.

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/forgjord

www.werewolf.fi
www.facebook.com/werewolf.rex

Today, Werewolf Records sets June 26th as the international release date for Förgjord‘s highly anticipated fifth album, Laulu kuolemasta, on CD and vinyl LP formats. For years one of Finnish black metal’s best-kept secrets, in recent times have Förgjord sprung to prominence among the adventurous as practitioners as a strangely alluring sort of obsidian. Although existing since the mid ’90s and patiently parceling out their recordings in an almost-clandestine manner, the upswing in activity began with Förgjord‘s third album (and first with Werewolf), Uhripuu, in 2017 and was followed by the equally challenging Ilmestykset in 2019. Between those two albums, the Finnish trio solidified and strengthened their strident aesthetic – malodorous melodicism, hypnotically rendered through a ripped-raw soundfield, making their strangely hummable ruminations on triumph & tragedy sound all the more alien – and made it all seem effortless. Going from strength to strength, Förgjord waste no time and deliver their fifth album a swift year after the last: Laulu kuolemasta. Compared to the organ-led melancholia of the predecessor Ilmestykset, Laulu kuolemasta is a more liberating record aesthetically, the Finns unshackling themselves from rules – theirs, black metal’s, whatever – whilst keeping the Förgjord identity front and center. No mean feat, that, especially this many years into their canon, but the Finns find ever more ways to twist and turn their always-beguiling/bewitching sound, and Laulu kuolemasta by turns explores territories both gloomier and more rockin’, if you will, with an acute mysticism coating the 46-minute work like a lingering fog. Of course, each of these eight songs (and two haunting interludes) exudes a deceptive(ly nasty) catchiness, and even without knowing their native language, you’ll find yourself soon singing these mini-anthems. But, translated into English, Laulu kuolemasta means “Song about death,” which conceptually ties all this together. As founding guitarist/bassist Valgrinder explained in a recent interview, “Modern man has alienated himself from death, and the stranger death feels to him, the more he fears it. But death is more than just the end of all; it’s an important part of our lives, and metaphorically, it means rebirth. ‘Creation through destruction’ – one has to die before he can experience rebirth. Death washes away all our sins, and death doesn’t judge; we are all equal in front of it. So, one shouldn’t fear death nor close his eyes from it. When people accept death in their everyday lives, they don’t fear it anymore, and without fear, they can live finally free. But death can also be nothingness and never-ending cold darkness; it can be the final solution or ultimate punishment. So death has many different kinds of faces, and Laulu kuolemasta is our homage to it – that universal power that’s as strong as life itself.” Feel that power with the brand-new track Laulu murtuvan niskan”

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Förgjord’s Laulu kuolemasta 1. Laulu murtuvan niskan 2. Ihitiriekko 3. Surman virta 4. Kostonhetki 5. Kylmyys 6. Polkuni päässä 7. Kaksi kiveä 8. Ruotta 9. Finlandia 10. Veljessurma

MORE INFO: www.facebook.com/forgjord

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