SATYRICON Begins Recording New Album For September Release

Norwegian black metallers SATYRICON have entered the studio to begin recording their new album for a September 22 release. A European tour in support of the disc will kick off the same weekend.

SATYRICON vocalist Sigurd "Satyr" Wongraven, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2015, told Metal Hammer 's "In Residence" show on Spotify that the follow-up to 2013's self-titled album would see the band moving away from the "violent, aggressive" vibe of its earlier efforts.

He said: "When we started getting back in to the rhythm after I was hospitalized, the music changed. I wasn't so much into what we did earlier — it wasn't that I didn't like it, but I didn't feel it in the same way anymore.

"A lot of what we did in the beginning is relentless, violent and aggressive. It's not like it's sobbing or really sad now, but it's more percussive, varied and soulful. There's less emphasis on the aggressive violent part of it."

Satyr also revealed that SATYRICON's next album is being recorded on a farm outside Oslo, Norway.

"We've been jamming in a barn for a long time," he said. "Every time we go there, the atmosphere is really nice — we really enjoy being there.

"I just said, 'We play so well when we're here — the spirit and the soul, and what we do comes across as unique. What if we brought recording equipment and engineers here, instead of bringing SATYRICON to a studio?' So we're doing that."

SATYRICON drummer Kjetil-Vidar "Frost" Haraldstad told VirtualFestivals.com last summer that the material for the band's next album "feels more creative than anything we have done before. I think that we managed to open quite a few doors, creatively, than with previous albums at least. This dynamic element was important. What I have been feeling is all those doors lead somewhere, and we have been exploring them and the result is what you will hear on that next album. It will go much further than previous albums, and I think it will be a very loaded album. Intense, very very diverse. An album impossible to sum up in a few words, which is a good thing."

SATYRICON celebrated the 20th anniversary of its seminal album "Nemesis Divina" with a series of exclusive European shows which saw the Norwegian trailblazers performing the LP in its entirety for the first and last time. The album was also re-released in spring 2016, newly remastered by Satyr himself and boasting upgraded and revamped packaging.