Keep of Kalessin
Keep of Kalessin is a metal band from Norway. The band's name refers to Kalessin, the oldest dragon in the novels of Earthsea cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin.
History
Keep of Kalessin was founded in 1994 by Arnt Ove " Obsidian Claw " Gronbech and Ghash under the name " Ildskjaer " in Trondheim. The band combines elements of Black- and power metal. A little later joined Vyl and Warach the band. The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin not only served as a template for the band's name, but inspired the band in their musical creativity.
In 1995 they recorded their first demo Skygger av carefully, however, which sold only very sparse due to technical defects and long recording time. Only ten labels and magazines they received, but the response has been surprisingly positive, which is why the band quickly signed a contract with the Italian label Avantgarde Music. Their debut album Through Times and War, published in 1997 in the studios Brygga from Trondheim and presented a much better production and a cleaner sound.
After some time had passed, they released their second album Agnen: A Journey Through the Dark, which was also included in the Brygga Studios. In 2006, the third studio album armada appeared at the Swedish record label Tabu Recordings. In early 2008 signed Keep of Kalessin at Nuclear Blast. Shortly thereafter, the fourth studio album Colossus was published. The end of 2008 the band toured opening for Morbid Angel, Kataklysm and Marduk.
In early 2010 the band recorded the song Dragon Tower at the Melodi Grand Prix, the Norwegian preselection for the Euro Vision Song Contest, in part. On this song, no black metal elements are found, the band's fans reacted negative to this song. Obsidian anticipated this:
" I think we are gonna get some reactions from the black metal scene, and loose some credibility. Some people, at least, wants to call us sellouts, but people saying Those things are Usually people who have an underground tape Themselves but make a living from selling hot dogs at a gas station. I think it's less of a sellout to play in the Euro vision than to sell hot dogs. "
"I think we will get some reactions from the black metal scene and lose some credibility. Some people will accuse us of at least sold out, but the people who say something like that, are usually those undertaking itself an underground band and earn their livelihood by selling hot dogs at the gas station. I think it is less sellout to perform at Euro vision as hot dogs to sell. "
On 14 May 2010 the associated album Reptilian was published. In issue 277 of Rock Hard, the album was voted one of the ten best new releases of the month. Their style of music on this album, they called for the first time can be seen as Epic Extreme Metal, as the sticker on the album cover.