[1] Following the very public Gorgoroth name dispute, former frontman Gaahl teamed up with former bassist King ov Hell to form the black metal band God Seed.

God Seed then released the Live at Wacken CD/DVD, which recreated Gorgoroth's Black Mass Krakow 2004 in its entirety.

"[2] During his self-imposed break from music, Gaahl worked with a project called Wardruna, based around Nordic spiritualism and the runes of the Elder Futhark.

All lyrics are written by Gaahl; all music is composed by Tom "King" Visnes, except where notedAllmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia said of the album, "the songs are tastefully arranged, no matter their inherent violence", and that it "simultaneously nods to the pair's past exploits and then breaks free of the restrictive B.M.

"[5] About.com's Craig Hayes wrote, "Wayward and disobedient, I Begin contains the crucial black metal elements to secure God Seed's cold-blooded roots, but it reveals a band harnessing their will to power by determinedly ignoring constraints.