Sahg is back full force with a new single in ‘House Of Worship’, a song with a the classic heavy metal vibe, that is taken from their sixth studio album that will be released on 21st October, through Drakkar Entertainment.
You can check out the video to it right here at RAMzine.
Entering the Norwegian metal scene in 2006 as a classic doom band, wasn’t necessarily a recipe for success. Black metal was still the big thing coming from Norway, and there wasn’t much space for bands from other subgenres. Even with Gorgoroth members King ov Hell and Kvitrafn in the line-up, adding a touch of blackness, it wasn’t very likely that Sahg would get an instant break-through. Despite the poor odds, their debut album charted in Norway’s top 40, got massive media coverage in national papers, reviews all over the international metal media. The success of the debut album brought the band on a North American tour, traveling coast to coast as opening act for Celtic Frost.
Throughout the following decade, Sahg released another four albums, and played several tours and festivals across Europe and Asia. Staying true to their doom and heavy metal roots, signed to Drakkar Records, Olav Iversen (Vocals, guitars), Tony Vetaas (Bass), Mads Lilletvedt (Drums) for their new album.
Tracks to be featured on the album are: ‘Fall Into The Fire’, ‘House Of Worship’, ‘Born Demon’, ‘Descendants Of The Devil’, ‘Black Cross On The Moon’, ‘Evil Immortal’, ‘Salvation Damnation’, ‘Killer Spirit (From Outta Hell)’, ‘Heksedans’ and ‘Destroyer Of The Earth’.
The bewitching ‘Heksedans’ was the first single to be released (and available here) from the forthcoming album – The song being a fresh, heavy metal take on the classic hit song by Norwegian singer-songwriter legend Jan Eggum. The song and music video (featured here at RAMzine) is inspired by the brave women who were burnt to death, accused of witchery, up to the 1600s. It is the first Sahg song ever with lyrics exclusively in Norwegian, and the band members’ daughters take part on the record and on camera.
Next, the title track also came out as a single: “We chose ‘Born Demon’ as the title track, and to release it as a single, because it is one of the heaviest tracks on the record, and it tells something about the overall theme on the album”, band member Olav Iversen commented. “About how all human beings have their demons. Everyone has an evil side, dark powers which are hard to control, and which sometimes go out of control, and make us do bad things to ourselves and to others. Every one of us is born with a dark side, and everyone is born demon.”
He continued: “The lyrics are about the newborn child of a woman and a demon. The mother is in deep shame and deeply regrets her mistake with the evil seducer. She doesn’t want the child, and plans to leave the newborn deep in the forest to die. But the child uses its demonic powers to get back at her in the most gruesome way.
“The song originated from a riff that I wrote many, many years ago, in the early years of Sahg’s existence”, Iversen added. “It has stuck with me through all this time, and I always loved the heavy, dark vibe of it, but I haven’t been able to write a song from it, until now. That riff is now the main riff of ‘Born Demon‘. The song materialised when I came up with the verse, and when we made the massive choir arrangements towards the end. We decided to go full-on Queen on that part, with the entire band singing along. And we have no regrets for doing it.”
“‘Fall Into the Fire’ is one of the tracks that really states what the new album is about. This is heavy metal in its purest form,” commented guitarist & vocalist Olav Iversen of the single that came next.
“After Sahg became a three-piece, we started focusing on writing simpler songs. We wanted to go back to the core and rediscover the essence of our heavy metal origin. On the previous couple of albums, we had written more complex and progressive material, but we’d had enough of that. I remember thinking, how can we make a Sahg song that hits the headbanger in people in the simplest way?. This is what came out. The simple opening riff is the backbone of ‘Fall Into the Fire‘.
“The chorus was taken from a song we had written some time before, that was otherwise heading in the wrong direction. But the unpretentious catchiness of the chorus fit perfectly with the new riff.
“The vocal line came instinctively along with the riff, and is equally instant and to the point. The first words that rolled off my tongue when we jammed the song, were ‘You scored the Devil’s daughter’, which led me on to writing a lyric about someone who hooks up with a charming young lady out on the town one night. One thing leads to another, and after waking up the next day you realize you have spent the night with the actual devil’s daughter. Pretty bad news, of course, because you have given the devil and his daughter exactly what they were after – the perfect occasion to drag you to hell and torture you in the most horrible ways, for all eternity. Turn it down from eleven to seven, and I’m sure many can relate. It’s a song about getting into trouble, basically. The kind you can’t get out of.”
You can order the Born Demon album here and check out videos for all the singles right here at RAMzine.
