Ivar Skontorp Peersen, best known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Ivar Bjørnson (born 27 November 1977 in Etne), is a Norwegian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

ist for the progressive black/

viking metal Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cr ...

band Enslaved.

Biography

Bjørnson is, along with

Grutle Kjellson Kjetil Tvedte Grutle, better known as Grutle Kjellson (born 24 December 1973 in Sveio, Hordaland, Norway), is the bassist and vocalist of the Norwegian progressive black metal band Enslaved. Together with Ivar Bjørnson, they are the founding an ...

, one of only two founding members left in the current line-up of Enslaved, being only 13 years old at the time of the band's formation in 1991. Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson performed in a death metal band called Phobia in 1989. The two decided that they wanted to form a new band in a more black metal style, and after discovering their shared fascination with Norse mythology, this set the groundwork for Enslaved. Beyond his duties on guitar, he writes almost all of the music for Enslaved as well as much of the lyrics. He has said that "When we started Enslaved we wanted to have the same level of commitment to something spiritual as our contemporaries in black metal ave withthe Satanic side. The dark destructive part of black metal didn't seem right because we didn't have any commitment to any Satanic ideology." He contributed keyboard/synth work to

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Bergen, founded in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun. The band's style combines black metal and folk metal with progressive and melodic elements. Borknagar's lyrics often deal with philosophy, paganism ...

's first three albums and synth/piano work on the

Gorgoroth Gorgoroth is a Norwegian black metal band based in Bergen. It was formed in 1992 by guitarist Infernus, who is also the only original member remaining, and the band have since released nine studio albums. Gorgoroth are a Satanic band and have ...

albums '' Incipit Satan'' and ''

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

'' under the name "Daimonion"; and also produced the first demo from black metal band

Orcustus Orcustus is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 2002. History Orcustus formed in Bergen, Norway, in early 2002 by Taipan, Dirge Rep, Infernus and Tormentor. Their moniker, meaning "the inner circle of Hell where Lucifer resides on his thr ...

. In 2011, Metalsucks named him the 22nd best modern metal guitarist, writing that "Ivar Bjørnson pushed the boundaries of black metal so far that they’re in the blurry distance, only recognizable to those looking for them." He has frequently cited

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

, Motorpsycho, and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

as major influences on his songwriting, and has called Pink Floyd his favourite band. In 2014, the Norwegian government commissioned Ivar and

Einar Selvik Einar Selvik (born 18 November 1979), also known by his stage name Kvitrafn ("white raven"), is a Norwegian musician known for being the drummer in the black metal band Gorgoroth from 2000 to 2004, and for fronting the Nordic folk project War ...

( Wardruna) to create a musical piece in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the

Norwegian constitution nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction = Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , ...

. The arrangement was titled 'Skuggsjá', and was performed by Enslaved and Wardruna as a concert piece at the Eidsivablot festival in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

, Norway on 13 September 2014. The music drew on the history, culture, and language of Norway and its Norse tradition, intended to tell the story of Norway, and to contextualise the past in Norway's present. The pair later decided that the project should be expanded upon, and further shows followed, including one at the popular

Roadburn festival Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on sto ...

in 2015. They used the project's name and released the project as a full-length studio album on 11 March 2016.

References

External links

Enslaved's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjornson, Ivar Norwegian black metal musicians Norwegian rock guitarists Norwegian heavy metal guitarists Norwegian multi-instrumentalists 1977 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Enslaved (band) members Gorgoroth members Borknagar members People from Etne