King of Asgard: The Nine Worlds Burn

In recent years, the sagas of Norse Mythology and the history of the Viking Age have become lyrical themes in heavy music as common and meme-able as Satanism and edge-lord grvmness. Any rag-tag group of metallers can chuck a few mentions to Thor’s hammer or Odin and claim some deep affinity with Norse lore. But Östergötland quartet KING OF ASGARD are no mere rag-tag group of metallers. Continuing their relationship with German cult label Trollmusic after a long four-year recording gap, the Swedes return with Svartrviðr– an almost hour-long blackened death metal exploration of the darker side of Norse mythology and the lesser-told tales of ancient Östergötland. There’s no chest-pounding drinking-horn anthems or songs of glory here, only the most esoteric of Nordic myths.

“We’re basically scratching the surface of the Norse myths, the sagas from the Viking Age, and retelling the stories in our way. We have a lot of history in Östergötland connected to the Viking Age with runestones and myths concerning the Omberg mountain here. We want to discuss historical themes close to our heritage, close to our own home,” KING OF ASGARD bassist Jonas Albrektsson explains the history of the band’s lyrical approach, leading into the specifics of Svartrviðr.

“It’s not a concept album in any sense, but I guess the songs are somewhat tied together with the darker stories of Norse myths, and our local nature and the mountain myths of Omberg. Everything is connected, but it’s not a concept album; it’s all just incredibly dark.”

Dark indeed. Even the more well-known myths KING OF ASGARD explore across Svartrviðr show little signs of classic Norse heroism, opting more for the grim and the apocalyptic. Opening duo Frôðr and Rifna are perfect examples of this, the former delving into themes of sacrifice centring on Odin’s suicide on the branches of the world tree to gain his infinite knowledge and the use of runes, while the latter is KING OF ASGARD’s own retelling of the desolate tale of Ragnarök, Norse mythology’s end-of-the-world myth. But the most interesting explorations on svartrviðr come from the lesser known myths of Östergötland.

“Further into the album we have Hæimr, which praises our own homeland and surroundings, the fact that Östergötland still stands proud after all the years and all the suffering. We want to praise our own heritage a bit,” Albrektsson explains, giving an insight into the more general side of the Östgötska influence, before giving a more specific example. “Ammobiærg is about our mountain myths, and the myths surrounding the Queen of Mists – Omma.”

‘The mountain myths’ is a phrase Albrektsson uses frequently over the course of the conversation exploring Svartrviðr. Anyone with even a vague interest in Norse mythology will know of Ragnarök, or be able to rattle off a few of the stories surrounding some of the headline gods – Odin hanging himself on the branches of Yggdrasil; Thor’s battle with Jörmungandr, the world serpent; Týr losing his hand in the jaws of Fenrir. But the mountain myths of Östergötland are far more obscure – though no less interesting.

“The mountain myths are very local. The Omberg mountain is not far from here and has many myths and sagas surrounding it that have been told throughout the ages to scare children.” Albrektsson explains, giving an insight into the tales he grew up being told that have influenced not just the lyrics of Svartrviðr, but his progression as an artist throughout KING OF ASGARD. “There’s some quite cool stories, like those of the Mist Queen and the Mountain King, who supposedly throw stones down the mountain to crush the churches. There’s lots of stories, and it’s all really interesting.”

For those with an interest in Norse mythology, that certainly opens up a new, more obscure area of exploration – some bedtime reading that’s best accompanied with a soundtrack of the dark, melodic riffing KING OF ASGARD offer across Svartrviðr.

Speaking of KING OF ASGARD’s riff work, it’s high time we zeroed in on the musical foundation of Svartrviðr. Since their formation, and even back in the times of MITHOTYN, a 90s precursor band where front man Karl Beckman and former drummer Karsten Larsson cut their teeth and delivered three criminally underrated and lesser known records, KING OF ASGARD have fallen into that hazy, weirdly undefinable ‘Viking metal’ category. BATHORY-esque melodies and storytelling providing a subtle nuance to the harder hitting, more traditionally Swedish death metal roots has been the backbone of KING OF ASGARD’s sound. But across their discography there has been a very clear move towards the blacker side of the spectrum – and Svartrviðr represents their most blackened work to date. To what do they owe the gradual progression towards black metal?

“For the most part, that’s probably due to the fact I’m more involved with the writing – Karl and I write everything together, and I’m much more into black metal than he is,” Albrektsson explains. “I came from black metal, I played in black metal bands for many years before I joined KING OF ASGARD, where Karl was much more into melodic death metal so I guess the progression to a more black metal sound is maybe due to our writing partnership. Maybe my inspiration has formed KING OF ASGARD’s own sound?”

At just barely under an hour long, Svartrviðr isn’t the easiest of listens. Nordic melodies blend with a blackened death metal core – heavy on the black metal – to deliver a soundscape as hauntingly beautiful and forlorn as it is punishing. And with a lyrical backbone offering something far more interesting than your average AMON AMARTH clone, you’d be hard pressed to find a better soundtrack to the darkness of our own COVID-based Ragnarök. Listen and relish as the nine worlds burn.

Svartrviðr is out now via Trollmusic.

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