Brothers Of Metal are a spectacular phenomenon on the international metal scene, their catchy yet powerful songs and martial outfits, including archaic weaponry, paying homage to both heavy metal and the Norse gods. Their first two album releases ‘Prophecy Of Ragnarök’ (2017) and ‘Emblas Saga’ (2020) have earned the Swedish band an outstanding reputation, and now Brothers Of Metal are ready to take the next step: Their third studio album ‘Fimbulvinter’ showcases all of the eight-piece’s strengths, but also includes some significant new elements. “The core sound is still there, but we’ve also evolved as songwriters, so the songs have more depth and width than before,” vocalist Mats Nilsson points out. “Our songs follow the same themes as before even though we’ve ventured into new territories and explored new stories, as it were. We always aim to have one song that fits everyone on each album, with the result that our hymns tend to sound like a lot of different genres of metal. That’s how we like it. We’re Brothers of Metal, we can play whatever we want to!” ‘Fimbulvinter’ will be available on AFM/Believe from 1 November 2024. Three lead singles will be out before the album’s arrival: ‘Heavy Metal Viking’, including official video clip, will be released on 21 June 2024, followed by ‘Nanna’s Fate’ (lyric video) on August 16th, before the official video for the title track ‘Fimbulvinter’ will be available from September 27th.
Brothers Of Metal have recorded a total of 13 new tracks. Some of them feature their typical mythological Nordic focus, such as the anthemic ‘Berserkir’, ‘Flight Of The Ravens’, ‘Ratatosk’ and ‘Sowilo’. In addition, there are ‘Heavy Metal Viking’ and ‘Rivers Of Gold’, which are rather unusual for BoM. Nilsson: “‘Heavy Metal Viking’ has a sort of 80s southern hard rock feel, which is far from what you’d expect us to be doing. And ‘Rivers Of Gold’ is hard to put a finger on but basically it’s a viking party ballad, which is just great in ways we’ve never done before.”
Most of the songs for the record were penned by guitarist Dawid Grahn and singer Ylva Eriksson. The other band members were also involved in the songwriting process, namely Mats Nilsson and Joakim Lindbäck Eriksson (both vocals), guitarist Pähr Nilsson, bassist Emil Wärmedal, drummer Johan Johansson and some additions from the new live guitarist Christian Larsson. ‘Fimbulvinter’ was recorded at the Massiv Musik’s Studio in Mockfjärd, Sweden and, like its predecessors, produced by Erik Berglund. Artist Sallai Péter contributed the cover design again, emphasising the tracks’ Nordic flair visually. Speaking of which, if you can’t wait to see Brothers Of Metal live on stage you will have the opportunity to do so from 1 November 2024, when the band embarks on an extensive European headline tour through nine countries, following selected festival appearances this summer (see tour dates below).
Finally, one question remains to be answered: What exactly is a ‘fimbulvinter’? Mats Nilsson explains: “Fimbulvinter is ‘the great winter’ in Norse mythology. A winter that is colder and darker than all other winters and lasts for three years. It’s one of the first significant indications that Ragnarök is coming.”
