TROLLFEST: New Track Available For Streaming

When a band that defines its music as "true Norwegian Balkan metal" chooses to debut a track from its new album on July 9 so that it can celebrate the Constitution Day of Palau (an island lying in the Pacific, and one of the world's youngest and smallest sovereign states) it is going to be a safe bet that the album will cross geographical boundaries in sound and influence. And "En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral" from TROLLFEST promises to do just that, as can be heard from the track "Die Verdammte Hungersnot", which is streaming on TROLLFEST's MySpace page.

One of those rare bands that refuses to restrict itself to a "local" sound, Norway's TROLLFEST prefers to explore the best of what the world has to offer in terms of traditional musical influences, and meld it into something fresh and distinctive. Consequently, "En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral" will be a veritable smorgasbord of sounds and emotions — from the band's self-confessed love of folk music from the Balkans and from their native Norway, to the sinuous and seductive melodies of the Middle East and lively Hispanic rhythms, all mixed with a healthy dose of pure headbanging metal. With the multi-instrumental skill and experience of its musicians, who are drawn from bands such as URGEHAL, PANTHEON I, UNTIME, MELCH, SARKOM, HALLUCINATIONS and POWERSWORD, TROLLFEST has turned this diverse brew into a storming album where unusual and traditional instruments are played side by side with the established metal favorites. And, of course, underlying it all is the band's genuine sense of exuberance and fun.

TROLLFEST is currently looking for a label for the release of "En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral", which will be the band's fourth full-length album. The title can be roughly translated as "A Quest For the Holy Grail", and is a play on the word "quest" in both the accepted sense, and in the sense of the Norwegian word "kvesting," which refers to the crushing of the crusaders.