Nobody quite understood ‘Meredead‘ and ‘Symphonies of the Night‘, but Leaves’ Eyes have returned to their Viking roots with the announcement of a new album that takes influence from historically accurate events!
The new album has been announced by the German/Norwegian metallers, and adopts the title of ‘King of Kings‘, promising a Viking epic. The album takes the story of the battle of Hafrsfjord, argued by historians as the beginning of the unification of Norway in the Viking era. Vocalist Liv Kristine explains more:
“With our upcoming album, we would like to take you on a journey through a highly interesting chapter in Scandinavia’s history.
“Hafrsfjord, Norway’s west-coast. A.D. 872. Did you hear what happened?
“Harald Hårfagre (c.850-932), remembered by medieval historians as the first king of Norway. The battle of Hafrsfjord is described in the Saga of Harald Hårfagre (Harald Fairhair) in Snorri’s Heimskringla. Harald defeated several petty kings and the battle is considered decisive in the unification of Norway. The seabed in Hafrsfjord hides many secrets and many traces. Moreover, Hafrsfjord is my birthplace.
“Those of you who were present at our latest concerts surely noticed that there’s one new song on our setlist, ‘Halvdan The Black’ — one chapter of the upcoming album, ‘King Of Kings’!
“Halvdanr Svarte (c.810-860) was a ninth-century king of Vestfold, Norway. He belonged to the House of Yngling (son of Odin’ line) and was the father of Harald Fairhair. ‘Halvdan The Black’ is just the start of an amazing adventure!”
Not more than the concept and the album art have been released for ‘King of Kings‘, but the album has been confirmed to drop on September 4th via AFM records, and by the sound of it this could be a very passionate album by Leaves’ Eyes. We look forward for the material to come!
