Keep of Kalessin

Keep of Kalessin is well known for their melodic sound and virtuosic playing ability, while still maintaining a level of harshness that one traditionally expects from black metal bands.

In contrast to traditional Norwegian black metal, Keep of Kalessin also makes use of other instruments like the piano, keyboards and synthesizers.

They started experimenting with a new sound which gave Keep of Kalessin its new character after Obsidian C. recruited the new band members Thebon, Wizziac and Vyl for their album Armada in 2006, the follow-up after the Reclaim EP in 2003.

He wanted to give Keep of Kalessin a unique character and develop its music, and improve himself too as a musician and lyrics writer, but the band still needed a drummer who could keep up with his riffing and he was unable find one in Trondheim.

This new line-up recorded Keep of Kalessin's new EP Reclaim and skyrocketed the band into the elite black metal scene of Norway.

Together with Torstein Parelius – the lyric writer from their EP Reclaim – the new line-up spent 2 years preparing to record their next album entitled Armada.

In 2010, Keep of Kalessin entered a song in the Melodi Grand Prix, the annual competition to select Norway's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, which was hosted by the country due to its victory in the 2009 contest, becoming the first heavy metal band to vie in the competition.

A cover art contest was held, with hundreds of submissions and a voting page set up on the band's Facebook profile.

Brazilian artist Jean Michel was declared the winner at the end, and the album was released on 16 February 2015.

The title track was released as the first single on 28 February 2023, to the Back on Black Records' YouTube channel, with streaming services following on 3 March 2023.

Keep of Kalessin at Devilstone Open Air 2009