Dark Essence Records have announced March 16th as the release date for “De gjenlevende”, the new album from Norwegian Black-Folk Metallers GALAR.  The album, which will be the band’s 3rd full-length, was recorded at the Conclave and Earshot Studio in Bergen with producer and VULTURE INDUSTRIES frontman Bjørnar E. Nilsen handling the recording and mixing, whilst  mastering is by by ENSLAVED’s Herbrand Larsen.  Artwork for the album is by  Robert Høyem of graphic designers Overhaus.  The track “Tusen kall til solsang ny”  from “De gjenlevende”,  has been debuted today and can be heard below:

oining the lineup for the album is Phobos (AETERNUS, GRAVDAL, MALSAIN) who was once again drafted in to handle the drums, as well as several session musicians including both a string quintet and a horn quartet –  unusual elements that are ideally suited to the epic nature of the six-track concept album.  Track listing for  “De gjenlevende”, which is sung entirely in Norwegian, but which is accompanied by an explanatory booklet in English,  as follows:

1. De gjenlevende
2. Natt … og taust et forglemt liv
3. Bøkens hymne
4. Ljós
5. Gjeternes tunge steg
6. Tusen kall til solsang ny

Whilst “De gjenlevende” loses nothing of the epic grandeur that fans have come to expect from the band , this time GALAR  also delve further into their harsher and more extreme sound alongside their trademark symphonic  elements.   As the band’s lyricist Jorge Blutaar recently explained, the concept for “De gjenlevende”  is inspired by  Pan-European folklore, ontology, and elegies.  “Its five contemplative texts tell of the utter dreadfulness that haunts both the human mind and body when the season of winter holds every living thing in its grasp. Winter is the time of utter gloom, enfeeblement and inescapable death, which challenges mankind, beasts and plants equally. Yet, as long as there is life, there is hope, and eventually a new era of the Sun will bring to an end the seemingly eternal darkness of winter.  With the arrival of spring hope and life will flourish once more.  It is a portrayal of this cyclical process of transformation that is as old as the history of mankind itself”.

GALAR’s  founders M. Kristiansen (screams, guitars and bass) and A. B. Lauritzen (clean vocals, bassoon and grand piano) recently announced that they had expanded the band’s lineup to include drummer Tomas Myklebust (ex-EMANCER, live session drums with VULTURE INDUSTRIES and VRIED), and have also added live session member Pól Nolsøe Jespersen on lead guitars.  The first time the new lineup will hit the stage will be at Inferno Festival in Oslo on the 1st of April at the Dark Essence Records label night at Blå, alongside label-mates TAAKE, KRAKOW and MOMENTUM.

More information about GALAR can be found on the band’s website at http://www.galar.no/  or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/galarofficial

“De gjenlevende”  is available to pre order from DARK ESSENCE RECORDS at http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/product/galar-de-gjennlevende or direct from GALAR at http://galar.bigcartel.com/product/de-gjenlevende

Fan-filmed footage of GALAR performing the track “Ingen Siger Vart Vunnin” at the Phantoms of Pilsen Festival in 2011 can be seen here:

The DARK ESSENCE RECORDS SoundCloud player contains tracks from all the label’s releases and can be found below: