Vintersorg (; "Winter Sorrow" in English) is a Swedish band from

Skellefteå Skellefteå (, locally ) is a city in Västerbotten County, Sweden. It is the seat of Skellefteå Municipality, which had 73,246 inhabitants in 2021. The city is historically industrial, with mining being a large part of that industry, especial ...

, formed in 1994 under the name Vargatron (Wolfthrone in English). Musically, Vintersorg has covered a wide number of heavy metal genres; while the band is mostly rooted in

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

styles, particularly

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an em ...

and

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exam ...

, it has also expanded into

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

and

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

. Lyrically, the band deals with topics on

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

, the

cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

, and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

. Vintersorg means " Winter Sorrow," but the name was taken from '' The Legend of the Ice People'' series by Margit Sandemo, where the character Vintersorg is the son of a great pagan leader.

History

The project was originally formed in 1994 to "push the limits" of black metal music, where the vocals are mostly clean sung, and only a few parts per song that had the traditional

screaming vocals Screaming is an extended vocal technique that is popular in "aggressive" music genres such as heavy metal, punk rock, and noise music and others. It is common in the more extreme subgenres of heavy metal, such as death and black metal as we ...

. The sound of Vintersorg has vastly changed over the years, as their earlier sound had more of a folk influence, and later on, more of an experimental sound. This transformation was most notably marked with the release of the '' Cosmic Genesis'' album, and the change in sound progressed from album to album, with the 2004 album ''The Focusing Blur'' being an extremely avant-garde album. The band's vocal elements have changed from album to album as well, starting out with low-pitched, powerful

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the ...

singing, and gradually shifting towards softer, higher-pitched delivery with more use of harmony and layering with black metal vocals. ''Solens rötter'', marked a return to the earlier folk metal style, while retaining the more complex and non-traditional guitar arrangements and song structures of later albums. On '' Jordpuls'' and '' Orkan'' there was a continuation with the Swedish sung material and nature oriented themes. ''Till fjälls: Part II'', a double album was released in June 2017.VINTERSORG To Release 'Till Fjälls Del II' In June
Blabbermouth.net. 7 April 2017 Along with this change in musical style, the lyrical topics began to shift as well. On earlier albums, the lyrics are all written and performed in Swedish, and dealt with topics of nature and

paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

. With the advent of ''Cosmic Genesis'', the lyrics were now written and sung mostly in English, and now dealt with scientific ideas such as

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

, philosophies such as metaphysics, and other ideas such as

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

. In the ''Cosmic Genesis'' booklet, Vintersorg extends thanks to Dr. Carl Sagan, author of the book

Cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

. Since, then, the band has alternated between both English and Swedish lyrics, sometimes using both on the same album. In keeping with the band's return to its folk roots, the latter albums are also sung entirely in Swedish and deal with more traditional themes.

Andreas Hedlund Andreas Hedlund (born 17 September 1973), better known by his stage names Vintersorg and Mr. V, is a Swedish vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who has played in several heavy metal bands. Biography Hedlund's musical career came to be at or aro ...

(a.k.a. Vintersorg) is constantly creating music. He is the front-man of several bands including Otyg,

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Bergen, founded in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun. The band's style combines black metal and folk metal with progressive and melodic elements. Borknagar's lyrics often deal with philosophy, paganism ...

, Havayoth, Fission, Cronian and Waterclime.

Band members

* Andreas "Vintersorg" Hedlund – composer, vocals, guitars, keyboard, programing * Mattias Marklund – guitars * Simon Lundström - bass guitar, backing vocals

Session musicians

* Vargher – keyboards on ''Hedniskhjärtad'', ''Till fjälls'', and ''Ödemarkens son'' * Cia Hedmark – female vocals on ''Hedniskhjärtad'', ''Till fjälls'', and ''Ödemarkens son'' and violin on ''Ödemarkens son'', female vocals on ''Norrskenssyner''. * Andreas Frank – guest lead guitar on "För kung och fosterland" & "Asatider" on ''Till fjälls'' * Nisse Johansson – additional keys on ''Till fjälls'' and analog synth, loop editing on ''Visions from the Spiral Generator'' and Hammond on "Universums dunkla alfabet" * Jan Erik "Tyr" Torgersen – live bass *

Steve Di Giorgio Steve Di Giorgio (born November 7, 1967) is an American bass guitarist. He is known for working with numerous heavy metal bands such as Sadus (of whom he was one of the co-founders), Death, Testament, Megadeth, Sebastian Bach, Iced Earth, Autop ...

– bass guitar on ''Visions from the Spiral Generator'' and ''The Focusing Blur'' *

Asgeir Mickelson Asgeir Mickelson (born 30 September 1969) is a Norwegian musician, artist, photographer and music reviewer. Although primarily known as a drummer, he is also a skilled guitarist and bassist. Biography He has stated on his official message boar ...

– drums on ''Visions from the Spiral Generator'' and ''The Focusing Blur'' * Lars "Lazare" Nedland – Hammond organ on ''Visions from the Spiral Generator'' and Hammond organ, vocals, and lyricist on ''The Focusing Blur'' * Benny Hägglund – live drums * Johan Lindgren – live bass, bass on ''Solens rötter'' * Andreas Stenlund – live guitar until 2002

Discography

* '' Hedniskhjärtad'' (EP, 1998) ("Paganhearted") * '' Till fjälls'' (1998) ("To the Mountains") * '' Ödemarkens son'' (1999) ("Son of the Wilderness") * ''Cosmic Genesis'' (2000) * '' Visions from the Spiral Generator'' (2002) * ''The Focusing Blur'' (2004) * ''Solens rötter'' (2007) ("Roots of the Sun") * '' Jordpuls'' (2011) ("Earthpulse") * '' Orkan'' (2012) ("Hurricane") * '' Naturbål'' (2014) ("Natural Bonfire") * '' Till fjälls: Del II'' (2017) ("To the mountains: Part II")

References

External links

Vintersorg
at

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label late ...

Interview on www.avantgarde-metal.com
{{Authority control Swedish folk metal musical groups Swedish viking metal musical groups Heavy metal duos Swedish progressive metal musical groups Swedish black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1994 Post-metal musical groups Napalm Records artists