''Carving an Icon'' is the debut album by the Norwegian

extreme Extreme may refer to: Science and mathematics Mathematics *Extreme point, a point in a convex set which does not lie in any open line segment joining two points in the set *Maxima and minima, extremes on a mathematical function Science *Extremop ...

/ gothic metal band

Viper Solfa Viper Solfa is a Norwegian extreme / gothic metal band from Kristiansand, Norway. It was founded in 2013 by Ronny Thorsen, once the symphonic black metal band Trail of Tears was separated. History After almost two decades of to exist Trail of ...

. The album was released on February 20, 2015 under the German record label

Massacre Records Massacre Records is an independent record label based in Abstatt, Germany, that specializes in bands of the heavier genres of metal. The label was founded in 1991 by Torsten Hartmann. Connected to Massacre Records is the marketing and music wh ...

History

Almost a year after Viper Solfa have settled in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, f ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, the band signed a contract with

in 2014, after composing and rehearsing several songs. The recording sessions took place between May and July 2014 in Transient Lab (mostly), the Strand Studio in Oslo, Norway and several vocal tracks were recorded in the Spacemachine Studio. The recording and mixing were completed in Sound Suite Studio in Marseille, France with producer Terje Refsnes, who previously worked with groups of similar genres such as

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

, Tristania,

Sirenia The Sirenia (), commonly referred to as sea-cows or sirenians, are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and coastal marine waters. The Sirenia currently comprise two distinct ...

and

Carpathian Forest Carpathian Forest is a Norwegian black metal band formed by Nattefrost and Nordavind in 1992. History In late 1990, the band originally started under the name Enthrone by Nattefrost (then bearing the pseudonym Lord Nosferatu) and Nordavind ...

among many. ''Carving an Icon'' was finally released on 20 February 2015. Former Tristania singer

Vibeke Stene Vibeke Stene (born 17 August 1978) is a Norwegian soprano and actress. She is best known as a former member of the gothic metal band Tristania, which she joined in 1996 and appears with on five albums. as the band became "one of the world's pr ...

is one of the main songwriters for the song called ''Whispers and Storms''. The cover art was created by renowned Brazilian graphic designer Marcelo Vasco, creator of the covers of bands such as

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic ...

and

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 ...

Track listing

Personnel

Viper Solfa

Ronny Thorsen ''Ronny Thorsen'' (born 3 January 1978 in Kristiansand, Vest-Agder, Norway) is a Norwegian vocalist most notable for being the harsh vocalist, lyricist, and formerly the only constant member of the band Trail of Tears, until he left the band in 2 ...

- Male vocals (

growling Growling is a low, guttural vocalization produced by animals as an aggressive warning but can also be found in other contexts such as playful behaviors or mating. Different animals will use growling in specific contexts as a form of communicat ...

) *Miriam Elisabeth Renvåg "Sphinx" - Female vocals *

Krister Dreyer Krister Dreyer (born 11 September 1974 in Sandefjord, Norway), commonly known as Morfeus, is a Norwegian musician, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Morfeus is noted for his work in several bands in Norway, including Mayhem, Limboni ...

"Morfeus" - Guitars, keyboards, orchestrations *Endre Moe "Mr. Moe" - Bass guitar *Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow - Drums

Production and engineering

*Terje Refsnes - producer, engineer *Marius Strand - mixing, mastering *Marcelo Vasco - cover art, design

References

External links

Carving an Icon en AllmusicCarving an Icon on Metallum ArchivesMetal Nation - album review
{{Authority control 2015 debut albums Massacre Records albums Viper Solfa albums