KATLA release video for the track,'Hvítamyrkur' taken from the album "Allt þetta helvítis myrkur"
Winter is here and it brings darkness. Yet there are not only those long nights, but also the darkness that fog and storms of snow bring to the far north: KATLA have capture this "white darkness" in the shape of a video clip for the song ''Hvítamyrkur'', which is taken from the Icelanders' acclaimed second full-length "Allt þetta helvítis myrkur".
The video clip 'Hvítamyrkur' ("White Darkness") is now available via this link: https://youtu.be/B6ky1rKHQfU
Shop link: https://prophecy.lnk.to/katla-album-2020
Band pictures, album cover, and other graphic materials: https://shwca.se/katla
KATLA 'Hvítamyrkur' taken from "Allt þetta helvítis myrkur"
KATLA comment on the single: "My wife and I were driving home through a harsh winter storm on February 8th in 2019", recalls Einar Thorberg Guðmundsson. "We were so fascinated by the surreal sight that we decided to take a detour deeper into the storm and we started filming it. We ventured as far into the white darkness as my Volkswagen Bora could take us until we were forced to turn around and head home. The horses were glad to see us arriving, but they were soon scared away by strong gusts of wind that almost knocked over my wife. I always knew that this material needed to be turned into a music video. When Guðmundur presented his lyrics for 'Hvítamyrkur`', which literally means 'white darkness', it was clear that those filmed scenes had found their destination. He has driven special offroad vehicles on glaciers in such conditions when nothing was visible at all. In such places and at such times, all the world seems to have turned white, which is its own kind of darkness."
Tracklist
1. Ást orðum ofar
2. Villuljós
3. Líkfundur á Sólheimasandi
4. Sálarsvefn
5. Vergangur
6. Hvítamyrkur
7. Húsavíkur-Jón
8. Allt þetta helvítis myrkur
9. Svartnætti
The infamous Icelandic low is defined as a large and persistent atmospheric low-pressure centre that forms between Iceland and Greenland and is often the cause of strong winter winds over the North Atlantic. KATLA artistically translate this meteorological depression into dark doom-infused metal and deep musical emotion. An urgent sense of darkness and inner turmoil drives "Allt þetta helvítis myrkur" ("All this damn darkness"), the second full-length of the Icelandic duo. The soul crushing heaviness fueling this record makes KATLA's melancholic debut album "Móðurástin" appear nearly light-hearted by comparison. Some of this album's core composition reach back in time for more than a decade and were born out of spontaneous rehearsal room-sessions that were only now given final shape. The result is a cinematic musical stream of consciousness, in which many of the songs intertwine and flow into each other.
KATLA are the conceptual and musical brainchild of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Einar Thorberg Guðmundsson (FORTÍÐ, POTENTIAM) and former SÓLSTAFIR-drummer and visual artist Guðmundsson Óli Pálmason. The duo deliberately took their name from one of the most active and feared Icelandic volcanoes to manifest that the external part of their inspiration relates to the islands ever-changing landscapes and subpolar climate. "The outer landscapes are as important to us as the inner darkness", tells Einar. "KATLA are as much a product of our environment as derived from our state of mind."
KATLA take their art very personally even beyond musical aspects. Cover art, photography, and the handwritten booklet – everything about "Allt þetta helvítis myrkur" has either been created by the duo or by their relatives and close friends. "We like to keep things in the family", Guðmundur Óli points out. "Everything is homemade yet up to our high standards." This DIY-approach also applies to production as Einar was responsible for all recordings, mix, master, and cello-samples. The result proves the Icelanders right: "Allt þetta helvítis myrkur" is an emotional tour de force – cinematic, dark, heavily emotional, and utterly mesmerizing.
The album was released on: November 13th, 2020
Shop link: https://prophecy.lnk.to/katla-album-2020
Band pictures, album cover, and graphic materials: https://shwca.se/katla
Available formats
"Allt þetta helvítis myrkur" is still available as Digipak CD, 2CD artbook (hardcover, 48 pages, 28x28cm, with lush art photography by Guðmundur Óli Pálmason and four bonus tracks), gatefold 2LP (180g, black and ltd. white vinyl), and a complete box set ltd. to 300 copies (with hotfoil-embossed lid, incl. 2CD artbook, gatefold 2LP on exclusive black-white marble vinyl, bonus 12", four art prints and a patch).
