Norwegian industrial Goth metal act Gothminster‘s new album Pandemonium II: The Battle Of The Underworlds is out now on AFM Records.
Earlier in the year, the band won the first round of their country’s preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest with their new single, ‘We Come Alive‘. Considered one of the top three favourites by both press critics and fans alike, the winner of the competition, however, was Gåte with the song ‘Ulveham‘, to represent Norway at the final competition in Malmö, Sweden.
Regardless, Gothminster‘s Bjørn Alexander Brem, expressed at the time how the band was: “Thrilled to win first heat in Norway’s national selections for Eurovision”, before they went on to play in front of 9,000 people at the final in Trondheim Spektrum.” And, though they didn’t win that final, there’s no denying that rock has been making amazing inroads into the televised commercial music competition in recent times, Brem claiming: “Without rock & metal, Eurovison is dead,” not necessarily being just self-promotion.
Gothminster’s blend of modern gothic industrial metal, danceable EDM parts and a pinch of retro charm certainly found a new audience. “The new single ‘We Come Alive’ has received so much love from old and new fans already,” Brem, commented. “It is time to put rock and metal on the map for Norway in Eurovision! The rock and metal scene has the world’s most loyal fanbase, and we always support each other. The song is about being different and standing together against all unfairness and cruelty in this world.“
Reflecting on how it started, he said: “It was a great experience on the NRK broadcasted press conference on Friday January 5th, when the whole TV-studio was filled with smoke from my smoke machine and red laser gloves marked the horns up into the cameras!”
You can check out both the metal act’s TV competition rendition and the official single video here at RAMzine. The band had also recently concluded an extensive European tour in support Pandemonium II: The Battle Of The Underworlds, that’s now available as limited clear vinyl and CD digipaks via AFM Records.
The new album takes up where its 2022 predecessor Pandemonium left off – Making it to number one on the German Alternative Charts, and voted Album Of The Year 2022 at the Dark Music Awards, with music videos for ‘Pandemonium’ and ‘Demons’ alone won stunning 19 film awards worldwide.
All of the new album tracks were composed and written by Brem, who also produced the new release. The mix is courtesy of Henning Verlage (Unheilig, Eisbrecher) and Norwegian sound engineer Morten Lund, who has worked with Morten Harket (A-ha), among others, was in charge of the album mastering. “The new material is faster and catchier than that of the predecessor album, but at the same time it sounds even more complex and modern, with more sophisticated vocal melodies and challenging breaks,” Brem revealled,“At the same time the driving beats for the dancefloor and the concept of ultra-low-sounding, tough guitar riffs are still present and link both recordings.”
Pandemonium II: The Battle Of The Underworlds can be ordered here while ‘We Come Alive’ is now available on all digital services here and you can check out the video here at RAMzine.
