Symphonic metallers Tungsten, the quartet consisting of ex-HammerFall drummer Anders Johannson, his sons Karl (bass, keyboards) and Niklas (guitars), and singer Mike Andersson, caused quite a stir with their latest single “Walborg”: countless streams but also more than half a million YouTube view for its music video cement the piece’s grandeur. As fans became even more curious about what else the band had in the works, Tungsten are pleased to bring some more light into the darkness: the aforementioned single was the very first appetizer of their forthcoming album “The Grand Inferno”, which is set for an October 18th, 2024 release through Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The self-produced 11-song offering emerges as a testament to Tungsten’s relentless pursuit of sonic excellence. With a rich tapestry of heavy riffs and captivating melodies, the album showcases the band’s dynamic range and songwriting prowess.
Since October 18th still seems to be far away, the group give their supporters a second track of their upcoming album to enjoy today. “Blood Of The King” has quite a heavy feel to it while rooting in the melodic lands of Nordic folk music. The band’s symphonic trademark elements round off the single and make fans even more eager for the arrival of “The Grand Inferno” this autumn.
Anders recalls the song’s creation:
“It starts with a heavy riff and then it goes into a more commercial power metal song. Karl wrote most of the song, but I was also involved composing the intro theme.”
Karl adds:
“The music is mostly based on the drum beat in the intro. Anders and I were jamming in our rehearsal studio. Anders came up with this drum beat and I just joined in. This later became the main riff of the song. The chorus of this song comes from a dream I had. I immediately recorded the melody on my phone when I woke up. The lyrical theme of the song is about our own heritage. The last couple of years Anders has been very interested in genealogy and found that we have Viking genes so that is what the song is about. One can say that it’s about our heritage.”
The official music video was shot at a cinema and surprises with Tungsten mascot Volfram appearing in a guest role.
Vocalist Mike says:
“We decided to ask our multi-talent and guitar slinger, Nick Johansson, to handle the filming of the music video. All of us added ideas for the video and its story. At first, we talked about doing a video more like ‘Northern Lights’ from our “Bliss” album with vikings considering the lyrical theme of the song. Someone mentioned that it would be cool to film it in a cinema. Eventually all of us started to brainstorm ideas to make the video the way we wanted with enough material for Nick to create and direct a cool video.”
“I wanted to direct the video, so it would have a humorous side to it with some added creepiness. I did not want things to go too far though and to become plastic, that was important to me. The song itself is not very dark and I believe the video completes the song in a good way”,
remarks Nick.
Photo credit: Mike Norgren
