Iotunn: Access All Worlds

Progressive metal is proving to be one of the most forward-thinking and exciting genre’s in music with new and exciting faces making their presence felt with refreshing and innovative material. One band who is destined for greatness is Danish visionaries IOTUNN.

Whilst having been a band since 2015 the only release to their name is their debut EP entitled The Wizard Falls which was released way back in 2016. It is now time for them to awaken from their slumber with full-length effort Access All Worlds which is guaranteed to turn a lot of heads, especially with BARREN EARTH‘s iconic Jón Aldará amongst their ranks. “The Wizard Falls feels like 100 years ago to us!” Declares guitarist and founding member Jens Nicolai Gräs.

“We feel we have progressed a lot in our song writing abilities and Access All Worlds feels like a natural evolution of the band to us. The big difference between releases is Jón. He is one of my top favourite singers in the world and it’s almost a dream come true to have him as our singer. Luckily when we showed him some of our demos he was very positive and ready to go for it and that was a huge moment for us. He just elevates everything he touches and makes our songs better. It’s quite funny as I don’t think anyone knows what genre to put us in as since the release of our first single we’ve been tagged with 100’s of different genres on the internet. I guess we play in the realms of progressive death metal but we like to explore new territory and just experiment and try a lot of different things. We come up with all sorts of crazy ideas, not all of them good but thankfully we are good at picking out which ideas are the best. We have very colourful arrangements and vast expressions in terms of our vocals. It is kind of all over the place with a lot of varied layers and melodies.”

Progressive metal music and the intricate compositions that lie within its grasp lend themselves perfectly to the creation of an elaborate, encompassing concept or overarching theme to accompany the music on its journey. IOTUNN have fully embraced this opportunity by taking full advantage of the intellectual lyricism at their disposal. “We kind of gave Jón free rein with the lyrical content and he devised a science fiction inspired storyline and narrative which flows throughout the release,” explains Jens. “It’s about a group of scientists who go on a voyage through the cosmos on a spacecraft called the Garganey I and basically everything is reaching the end of time so they are looking to discover a potential new home in the universe or find a solution to solve this. They encounter different cultures and planets and all sorts of weird places. They find out that the more they discover that the less they actually know about the universe and are confronted by a lot of existential questions. There is a lot of elements which are open to the interpretations of the listener too.”

It is fascinating to delve into the inner workings of a band and learn how their material comes to fruition. Some bands have developed a great working relationship by having a sole contributor who takes responsibility for the writing process but others thrive in allowing their collective minds to mesh together. IOTUNN have the power of sibling kinship in their ranks to give them an advantage on their quest. “Myself and my brother and fellow guitarist Jesper usually begin the writing process and then we work in a circular process around the other members and work with the material until we feel it is the best that it possibly can be. We are very disciplined in our approach to make sure that songs are not too long or become too boring and that they stay sharp and focused. We like each song to be an adventure. The creative process is always very interesting to hear each others opinions and make sure that they are all on the table. We are five very different individuals with our own strengths but we all possess a lot of chemistry and this provides the opportunity for all sorts of ideas.”

Access All Worlds is out now via Metal Blade Records.

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