Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

No one carries the torch for Norwegian black metal with the same fire as 1349.

Four years ago, when live music was just crawling out from the shadows of the pandemic, the Norwegian black metal torchbearers exploded onto the stage in front of a sold-out crowd in their native Oslo. Now, fans everywhere can experience the band’s signature aural hellfire in the flesh with Winter Mass. This new live album includes songs from across their imposing discography, including early classic “I Am Abomination”.

Watch 1349 perform “I Am Abomination” live in Oslo:

Winter Mass comes out November 28 on Season of Mist.

Pre-order & Pre-save: https://orcd.co/1349wintermass
Pre-save on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/2zZcw3FlWSRP6sWvVChzlA

“I Am Abomination” first announced 1349 as a force to be reckoned in 2005 as the opening track from their landmark third album Hellfire. After two decades as a staple in the band’s set list, the song still blisters with unmatched speed on Winter Mass. Thrashing riffs and merciless blasts descend upon the Parakeet crowd like the black plague that bestow the band their name. “I will always be here / In all ways in all times“, snarls Ravn. What was once a proclamation is now a testament to their enduring firepower.

The same holds true for the album’s artwork, all of which bears the mark of Kim Diaz Holm. The Norwegian artist has captured more than 2,000 concerts, often while standing to the side of the stage. Holm has worked with larger-than-life artists like Abbath but developed a special connection with 1349 after drawing them at both Inferno Festival and Hulen in 2012. Over the past 13 years, he has continued to document the band’s incendiary live shows and even designed their merch. What he’s created for Winter Mass draws fans even closer to fire. Sketched while he was headbanging in the pit, these drawings leap off the page with the same raw, dark spirit as their muse.

Tracklist:
1. Enter Inferno (1:48)
2. Sculptor of Flesh (3:18)
3. Slaves (4:43)
4. Through Eyes of Stone (3:36)
5. Cauldron (5:34)
6. Striding the Chasm (5:56)
7. Chasing Dragons (7:15)
8. Serpentine Sibilance (5:00)
9. I Am Abomination (5:16)
10. Golem (1:38)
11. Atomic Chapel (8:17)
12. Dodskamp (5:39)
13. Abyssos Antithesis (7:08)
Total runtime: 1:05:07

With their signature aural hellfire, 1349 embody the original spirit of black metal.

Unhappy with the direction the genre took during the mid-90s, in 1997, vocalist Ravn formed the 1349 with like-minded bassist Seidemann. The band’s current lineup – which is bolstered by guitarist Archaon and Frost (who also drums for Satyricon) – has been in place since 2001. Over the past two decades, they have ignited major European festivals such as Wacken Open Air and Hellfest with their fiery performances and toured internationally with the likes of Celtic Frost, Cannibal Corpse and Carcass. Each of their eight studio albums have been inspired by the same guiding principal: to bring back the grimness, the eeriness and the primal emotions of Norwegian black metal.

Now, fresh from the ashes of their eighth album, The Wolf & The King, 1349 are releasing a new live album. Though recorded shortly after pandemic lockdown was lifted, Winter Mass explodes out the gates with the band’s signature aural hellfire. This hour-plus set, recorded at Oslo’s Parkteatret, enraptured their home crowd with apocalyptic spells from across their discography’s massive cauldron of chaos. Early classics like “Sculptor of Flesh” thrash with unchained madness. Recent favorite “Striding the Chasm” whips by at a blistering pace that could only be captured by cover artist Kim Diaz Holm, who drew the album’s artwork while headbanging in the pit.

“I will always be here / In all ways in all times“, snarls Ravn on hellacious cut “I Am Abomination”. After three decades and counting, what was once a proclamation is now a testament to 1349’s enduring firepower.

Experience aural hellfire live in the flesh back where it all began with Winter Mass.

Live Line-up:
Archaon – Guitars
Destructhor – Guitars
Frost – Drums
Ravn – Vocals
Seidemann – Bass

Recording:
Parkteatret, Oslo on November 20, 2021

Production Credits:
Producer & Sound Engineer – Hugo Alvarstein
Mixing Studio – Alvarstein Mix & Mastering Studio Oslo Norway
Mixing Engineer – Hugo Alvarstein
Mastering Studio – Alvarstein Mix & Mastering Studio Oslo Norway
Mastering Engineer – Huge Alvarstein

Cover Art:
Kim Holm

Follow 1349:
Official Website: http://www.legion1349.com/
Bandcamp: http://1349som.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1349official
Instagram: http://instagram.com/1349official
Twitter: http://twitter.com/1349official
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1349auralhellfire
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/150xbiJGnTy1tSBZ9EFKnT
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/artist/10673
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/1349/79664050
TIDAL: https://tidal.com/browse/artist/22185
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/1349/e/B001LHI2SI/