Danish/Faroese progressive metal collective, Iotunn, today unveil "Iridescent Way" and its accompanying video. The moving acoustic track appears on the band's second full-length album, Kinship, set for release on October 25 via Metal Blade Records.
Iotunn's Kinship is a massive album arising from the primeval sea. It's a mythological journey through eight tracks that span immense spheres both musically and lyrically, exploring the deep roots of human nature, its connection and disconnection with everything and everyone, and how our choices have always defined ourselves and the lives lived.
Comments guitarist Jesper Gräs on "Iridescent Way", "It has been our wish for years to make an acoustic song. [Guitarist] Jens Nicolai [Gräs] and I have origins in playing classical guitar and this, combined with the folk tradition in the North as well as in the West as such, has been a huge gift and inspiration throughout the years. The intro and outro part came to me in a dream, and I woke up and played it. It laid a foundation for this song which is very special to the whole band, and we hold it very dearly."
Jens Nicolai agrees, "It's clearly a stand-out song on the album. Finally, we pulled ourselves together to do something like this. There's no brave or out-of-box decisions here. Just us doing something that also feels natural to us."
Kinship unfolds the story of a tribesman who is part of a prehistoric tribe. It tells the story of life's manyfold conditions as themes of unity/disunity, light/dark, body/mind, nature/culture, good/evil, creation/destruction, and human/inhuman are unfolded throughout the album. The album shows Iotunn unfold their musical worlds to their fullest scales to date which has been the dream achievement throughout the years creating the album.
"In my mind, Kinship is a grand work of heavy metal art, one that I am very proud to have taken part in creating," notes drummer Bjørn Wind Andersen. "Musically, it encompasses so many different colors and emotions. It is, in many ways, the music to which I've always dreamt of contributing drums. It is the finest accomplishment this far, for me personally and for the band."
The artwork and art pieces of Kinship were created by the ink and graphite illustrator and artist, Saprophial (Hammers Of Misfortune), with the design and layout created by art director Brian Ames at Metal Blade Records. Kinship was mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios Denmark (Arch Enemy, Katatonia, The Black Dahlia Murder, Volbeat, Týr).
Iotunn‘s Kinship will be available on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
- Dark Jade Marbled (US)
- 180g Black (EU)
- Olive Beige Marbled (EU)
- Teal w/ Red, Orange + Yellow Splatter (EU - Ltd. 300)
- Bright Orange (EU - Special Edition feat. expanded 20-page booklet + patch - Ltd. 1,000)
Pre-order here.
Kinship tracklisting:
"Kinship Elegiac"
"Mistland"
"Twilight"
"I Feel The Night"
"The Coming End"
"Iridescent Way"
"Earth To Sky"
"The Anguished Ethereal"
"Twilight" lyric video:
"I Feel The Night" video:
Iotunn is:
Jón Aldará - vocals
Jens Nicolai Gräs - guitar
Jesper Gräs - guitar
Eskil Rask - bass
Bjørn Wind Andersen - drums
(Photo - Nikolaj Bransholm)
