Track Premiere: Ærekær – ‘Bøj dig for din ælde’

Ærekær are a duo within the Korpsånd Circle, a collective of underground black metal bands and musicians. Ærekær conjure a heady alchemy of epic ambient black metal and arcane dungeon synth. The duo made their first debut on the now highly sought-after Korpsånd compilation. Ærekær opened the comp, provided a two song interlude in the middle, and closed the comp with raw guitar-accompanied dungeon synth instrumental jams. Last year they released their brilliant debut album, simply titled MMXVII, on tape through underground Canadian label, Tour De Garde. And soon their follow-up album, Avindskjold, will be available in North America from Tour De Garde. Copies are already available from the Korpsånd-operated label, Nattetale. Meanwhile a 12” vinyl version of Avindskjold is coming from Tour De Garde, and will be available imminently.

Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jesper Bagger Hviid at Mayhem, CPH, Avindskjold marks a four part journey through time on the wings of soaring epic and ambient black metal, over forlorn ruins, across misty battlefields thronged with the armored dead. Hear the album’s opening song streaming below, and read the interview with the duo behind Ærekær, known simply as Æ. 

 

“Bøj dig for din ælde”

 

Can you give us a hint, or help out with a translation of Avindskjold? How does the title encompass the music and themes on the album?

Æ: It means backwards shield. A shield turned against yourself and your allies. Treason…

 

Avindskjold is quite different than any of the four Ærekær tracks on the Korpsånd compilation, and it’s more black metal than MMXVII, your previous release. Are these changes the result of a conscious decision, or is it just the natural maturation of the band’s sound?

Æ: The sound came naturally. It was summer and we missed winter. Even though this change could seem like a standard progression from lo-fi to less lo-fi, we will not call this maturation or any other term suggesting our prior work to be done as less conscious acts. This is another world. We might go back.

 

There’s a drummer in your midst—probably one of you are even drummers. Was the decision to use programmed drums in order to pull off playing live, or is it to keep the sound closer to this kind of ambient black metal?

Æ: We always loved programmed drums. From Asmorod to Ildjarn. The recorded music comes first to us.

 

Can you tell us how the average Ærekær songs comes to be written and then rehearsed and recorded? What goes into a track like “Bøj dig for din ælde” for instance?

Æ: Our songs rise as the mist in boglands – slowly out of nothing and stay close to the ground.