SATYRICON Begins Recording New Album

Norwegian black metallers SATYRICON have entered the studio to begin recording their new album for a tentative September release. The band will premier some of its new material during an appearance at this year's edition of the Inferno festival, set to take place March 27-30 at the Rockefeller, John Dee, Rock In, Blå, Unholy, Victoria and Revolver venues in Oslo, Norway.

In a June 2012 interview with MetalSickness.com, SATYRICON frontman Sigurd "Satyr" Wongraven stated about the band's decision to take a long break after completing its last extensive tour in 2009, "I felt that the cycle of SATYRICON had become very something different from what I wanted it to be. It became like this: write, rehearse, record, promote, tour, finish. [Then again] write, rehearse, record, promote, tour, finish. And again and again and again. And I came to a point in 2009 where I went, like, 'What's the point of this? Is this why I started [playing music]? Definitely not.' This was never my goal to come in a situation like this. It's not like I dreamt about living on a bus. It was not my goal in life. Or to live my life in a suitcase. Or in a backstage. It was never my plan. My plan was to write music, record music and release music and then do the occasional show and tour, but this became like a clusterfuck of events — all the time something going on and all this pressure all the time, especially from everyone around us. Plus, I also think that when you're working so intensely, there's sort of this tear-and-wear to people on a personal level. And also, as the leader of a company or a sports team or a metal band, you also have a responsibility to make some decisions that might be popular but unnecessary. And for those who just want to go on the road and play all the time, they don't want to have a break, and our agent and record company, they certainly didn't want any break. But for me, it became almost like a choice between quitting as a band or taking a break."

SATYRICON's latest album, "The Age Of Nero" (2008),entered the German Media Control chart at position No. 73. It also landed on the national chart in Norway at position No. 5. This was SATYRICON's lowest chart entry in the band's home country since "Rebel Extravaganza", which premiered at No. 32 in 1999. "Volcano" (2002) entered the chart at No. 4, while 2006's "Now, Diabolical" came in at No. 2.