Vreid: Welcome Farewell – new album

The Norwegian black & roll brigade's, VREID, new and sixth album entitled ‘Welcome Farewell’ is already out in Europe (February 26th, 2013) and is patiently awaiting its North American release come March 5th, 2013, courtesy Indie Recordings. ‘Welcome Farewell’ was recorded at bassist Hváll's (Jarle Kvåle) Studio 1184 as well as on the road, during the band's extensive tour which included an appearance at the Damnation Festival in Leeds, UK. VREID's new video ‘The Reap’, available for your viewing pleasure below, was produced by Einar Loftesnes and animated by Kim Holm. ‘Welcome Farewell’ should be bought from here (Indie Recordings' North American store), from here (EMP/Europe), here (Plastic Head/UK) or via iTunes:

“Two years after we started writing new riffs, our new beast is now complete. It’s been a lot of work, but we are utterly pleased with the result. Dark, heavy and VREID are the three keywords to describe it,” [added VREID]

 

Formed in 2004 in Sogndal, Norway by remaining members of WINDIR, following the tragic death of lead singer and founder Valfar (Terje Bakken), VREID (Norwegian for “wrath”) released two albums, ‘Kraft’ (“a throwback to the early days of black metal and recalls that late-'80s/early-'90s era in which thrash metal was giving way to the death metal/black metal field” – Alex Henderson, AllMusic – more here) and ‘Pitch Black Brigade’ through Tabu Recordings between 2004 and 2006. VREID signed with Indie Recordings in 2006 and released their third album, ‘I Krig’ [“at war”], in 2007. The lyrics, written solely in Norwegian, were based on poems written by Gunnar Reiss-Andersen, a member of the Norwegian resistance during WW2:

“ ‘I Krieg’ falls short of the lushness of symphonic black metal (there aren’t a lot of clean vocals to go along with Sture's [Sture Dingsøyr, gutar and vocals] black metal rasp), but the 45-minute disc brings VREID into the folk-metal realm and does so with compelling results. Traditional Scandinavian folk is a strong influence, and this is an album that - for all its blistering, in-your-face intensity - has a real sense of craftsmanship,” [commented Alex Henderson, AllMusic – more here]

“The Norsemen are coming, the Norsemen are coming!”

introduced VREID's similar-themed album ‘Milorg’, released in 2009, AllMusic's Greg Prato (more here). With lyrics written this time in English language, the album once again dealt with the resistance movement in Norway during the Second World War. The release of ‘Milrog’ was followed by three European tours as well as their first North American tour and subsequent replacement of guitarist Ese with former WINDIR and current COR SCORPII guitarist Stian “Strom” Bakketeig. In 2010, VREID released their first DVD called ‘Vreid Goddamnit’, and in 2011, their fifth album ‘V’ which entered the Norwegian Album Chart at number 22, and was awarded by 9/10 rating by Decibel Magazine:

 

 

VREID features: Hvàll – bass, Steingrim (Jørn Holen) – drums, Sture – vocals and guitar and Strom – guitar