On their fifth album, the Norwegian legends scaled to new epic extremes
“One of the most intensely epic releases of the year” – Last Rites
High amidst the snowy Norwegian mountains, KEEP OF KALESSIN are hammering away at their upcoming seventh album. As the band prepare to add another fantastical fixture to their treasured discography in 2025, today, they’re polishing off another one of their crown jewels.
After receiving the colossal honor of a Spellemannprisen nomination for another recently reissued album, even battle-vested metalheads who’ve followed them through times of war might’ve wondered if Keep of Kalessin had finally peaked on the field of battle. But with Reptilian, these living legends scaled to truly epic extremes. Not only did the album climb all the way to #2 on the Norwegian album charts. “The Dragontower” crowned Keep of Kalessin as the first extreme metal band to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest.
“At the time, Reptilian was for sure our biggest production”, says Keep of Kalessin’s Arnt Obsidian. “The effort put into this album was intense and there were times I felt I had taken on too much with such a limited budget. Even Daniel Bergstrand freaked out when I gave him 48 tracks of just guitars on some parts using the guitars as a full symphony orchestra. This, plus choirs, keyboards and the rest of the band was almost too much to get any mix that made sense. But we managed to pull it off in the end.
“The album hold some of my personal favorites from our entire catalog in ‘Dragon Iconography’, ‘The Divine Land; and ;Reptilian Majesty;. On the 13 minute closing track, my goal was to take the extreme metal approach to creating epics like ‘Alexander The Great’ and ‘Rime Of The Ancient Mariner’ from Iron Maiden. So I felt really proud when Torgrim Oyre wrote a review in one of the biggest newspapers in Norway that ‘Reptilian Majesty’ was the extreme metal equivalent to heavy metal anthems like Rime Of The Ancient Mariner even without me mentioning it to him! He got it spot on!”
Season of Mist will reissue Reptilian on March 21, 2025.
Pre-order & Stream: https://orcd.co/kokreptillian
Available Formats:
Digital Download
CD Jewel Case
12″ Double Vinyl Gatefold (Transparent lime with white-and-black marble)
Keep of Kalessin came up sharing the same rarefied air as Behemoth and Satyricon, but Reptilian shed their traditional black metal influences for more epic extremes. While the title traces back to the band’s mythical origins, opener “Dragon Iconography” slithers from the mist with fire-breathing blasts and slashing riffs that could outslay any modern-day warrior.
“Born of dragons / Fearsome beasts of legends” the band howl while charging into the heat of battle with axes ablaze.
Even amongst their many epic tales, Reptilian still towers above the beasts of extreme metal.
More praise for Keep of Kalessin:
“Keep of Kalessin’s two-decade journey has been one of constant evolution…What has remained constant, though, is the band’s sense of ambition and epic scale” – Metal Hammer
“By emphasizing songwriting that skewed towards the epic and often incorporated symphonic and progressive elements alongside huge, polished production values, they offered a sound that felt like it spanned just about every aspect of metal but managed to pull it together in a seamless manner – Metal Trenches
“Totally turned black metal on its head” – Metal Sucks
Tracklist:
1. Dragon Iconography (7:31)
2. The Awakening (8:19)
3. Judgement (5:10)
4. The Dragontower (4:44)
5. Leaving the Mortal Flesh (4:25)
6. Dark as Moonless Night (5:50)
7. The Divine Land (6:48)
8. Reptilian Majesty (14:14)
Total runtime: 57:01
Tracklist:
1. Origin (2:28)
2. A New Empire’s Birth (5:50)
3. Against the Gods (8:47)
4. The Rising Sign (7:27)
5. Warmonger (5:21)
6. Escape the Union (7:49)
7. The Mark of Power (4:57)
8. Kolossus (7:15)
9. Ascendant (4:31)
Total runtime: 54:25
Lineup:
Arnt Obsidian – Guitars, Vocals
Robin Isaksen – Bass
Wanja Gröger – Drums
Style: Epic Extreme Metal
As one of the pioneers of Epic Extreme Metal, Norway’s Keep Of Kalessin have collected an impressive number of milestones.
Since forming in 1993, Keep of Kalessin have established a reputation for treasured releases. Their first two albums, Through Times of War (1997) and Agnen: A Journey Through the Dark (1999) paired the band’s sense for melody and virtuoso playing with the harshness traditionally expected from black metal.
After the band’s original lineup split up, founding member and guitarist Arnt Obsidian served as Satyricon’s live guitarist from 2002 until 2007. He played hundreds of shows with the Norwegian black metal legends, including headlining Wacken Open Air in 2004.
It was through this fortuitous partnership that Keep of Kalessin reunited. Obsidian was joined by Frost for the 2003 Reclaim EP, which also features Atilla Csihar from Mayhem. Like all good things, this lineup did come to an end, but the band was far from done.
In fact, Keep of Kalessin came back in a big way during the mid-2000s. Experimenting with piano, keyboards and synthesizers earned the band’s next two albums, Armada (2006) and Kolossus (2008), nominations in the metal category at the Norwegian Grammy Awards.
Then in 2010, Keep of Kalessin shocked the world by becoming the first metal band to compete for Norway’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song “The Dragontower” finished third during the national final. That same year, the band released their fifth album Reptilian, which peaked at #2 on the Norwegian national charts.
After 30 years, Keep of Kalessin have built themselves into an enduring live force. They’ve toured with Satyricon, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Exodus and many other acclaimed acts. After five years of extensive touring, the band put out another impressive album in 2015’s Epistemology.
While Keep of Kalessin soon faced the challenge of replacing their longtime drummer Vyl Larsen, the Internet helped them find an excellent replacement. Wanja Gröger is a long-time fan of the band whose amazing drumming skills are recognized all across the globe thanks to his popular YouTube channel. After an initial tour in 2019, Gröger became a full-time member of the band ahead of their latest album.
Metalheads may have written Keep of Kalessin off after receiving no album from them in eight years, but 2023’s Katharsis was named Album of the Month in Norway’s prestigious Scream Magazine. The band premiered the whole album during a titanic mainstage performance on board 70,000 Tons of Metal.
This year, Keep of Kalessin signed with Season of Mist, who will release the band’s next album in 2025, along with reissues from their back catalogue.
Follow Keep of Kalessin:
Website: https://www.keepofkalessin.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keepofkalessin/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keepofkalessin/
Bandcamp: https://keepofkalessin.bandcamp.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/keepofkalessin