''I Begin'' is the only album by Norwegian

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band

God Seed God Seed was a Norwegian black metal band based in Bergen, Norway. Former Gorgoroth members Gaahl and King ov Hell adopted the name in March 2009 following the ending of the Gorgoroth name dispute. After performing a few gigs as God Seed, vocalis ...

. It was released on 23 October 2012 in North America and on 30 October 2012 in Europe.

Background

Following the very public

Gorgoroth name dispute The Gorgoroth name dispute refers to a legal dispute between musicians from Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth over who had ownership of the band's name, which was derived from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. The parties to the dispute were band ...

, former frontman

Gaahl Kristian Eivind Espedal (born 7 August 1975), better known by his stage name Gaahl, is a Norwegian vocalist and painter. He is best known as the former frontman of Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. He is also the founder and lead vocalist of ...

teamed up with former bassist King ov Hell to form the black metal band God Seed. God Seed then released the ''Live at Wacken'' CD/DVD, which recreated

Gorgoroth Gorgoroth is a Norwegian black metal band based in Bergen. It was formed in 1992 by guitarist Infernus, who is also the only original member remaining, and the band have since released nine studio albums. Gorgoroth are a Satanic band and have ...

Black Mass Krakow 2004 ''Black Mass Krakow 2004'' is a live concert DVD by the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. It was released by Metal Mind on 9 June 2008 in Europe and on 8 July 2008 in the US. The DVD is of the band's controversial 2004 concert that was filmed ...

in its entirety. Between the name dispute and forming the new band, Gaahl retired from black metal. In an interview with ''

Terrorizer Terrorizer is an American grindcore band formed in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. After disbanding, its members gained recognition by playing in influential extreme metal bands, such as Morbid Angel ( David Vincent, Pete Sandoval), Napalm D ...

''s John Consterdine, he said, "I was basically just withdrawn from everything concerned with metal." During his self-imposed break from music, Gaahl worked with a project called

Wardruna Wardruna is a Norwegian music group formed in 2003 by Einar Selvik along with Gaahl and Lindy Fay Hella. They are dedicated to creating musical renditions of Norse cultural and esoteric traditions, and make significant use of Nordic historical a ...

, based around Nordic spiritualism and the runes of the

Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Peri ...

. When asked why he returned, he replied, "I got a bit of the taste back for it, but I don't know if it will last." He claims that the lyrics are based around "my love for creation and oexpress myself vocally through the music is something that comes up now and again."

Track listing

Critical reception

Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia said of the album, "the songs are tastefully arranged, no matter their inherent violence", and that it "simultaneously nods to the pair's past exploits and then breaks free of the restrictive B.M. aesthetic virtually demanded of

material." Pitchfork's Grayson Currin said, "It would be a stretch to call ''I Begin'' a breakthrough for a fresh quinet; it would be dismissive to not consider it perhaps as the start of one." About.com's Craig Hayes wrote, "Wayward and disobedient, ''I Begin'' contains the crucial black metal elements to secure God Seed's cold-blooded roots, but it reveals a band harnessing their will to power by determinedly ignoring constraints. That's no surprise given Gaahl and King's defiant ideologies, but ''I Begin'' requires you to be receptive to new ideas."

Personnel

God Seed

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(1-9) * Stian "Sir" Kårstad –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(1-5, 7–9) * Lust Kilman –

(1-5, 7–9) * King ov Hell – bass (1-5, 7–9) *

Geir Bratland Geir "Gerlioz" Bratland (born 29 July 1970 in Narvik, Norway) is a Norwegian keyboardist for the band Dimmu Borgir (2010-) and formerly was a member of the bands God Seed, Apoptygma Berzerk, The Kovenant, and Satyricon. Discography/Performances ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

(1-11) *

Kenneth Kapstad Kenneth Kapstad (born 20 April 1979) is a Norwegian musician from Trondheim, known as the drummer of the band Gåte (2004–2005) and God Seed (2012–2015) and from collaborations within the bands Motorpsycho, Animal Alpha, Goat the Head and Mo ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(1-5, 7–10)

Additional personnel

* Herbrand Larsen ( Enslaved) – vocals on "Hinstu Dagar" * Alexander Jakobsen – vocals on "Alt Liv" * Trym Hartmark Visnes – vocals on "Bloodline"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I Begin 2012 debut albums God Seed albums Indie Recordings albums