Nordic folk, doom and progressive metal meet storytelling lyrics on Dun Ringill‘s new studio album “150-Where the Old Gods Play Act 1”. After the launch of their second “Library of Death”, the Swedish 6 piece decided to challenge themselves further by writing an ambitious double concept-album, released as two separate albums during 2023 and 2024 respectively. To enhance the storytelling, the band (now with a new drummer) choose to increase the intensity of their dark, progressive visions whilst still faithfully incorporating their native nordic folk influences.
Dun Ringill found a new lease of life when they decided to throw themselves into the grandiose and almost impossible mission of composing a cohesive and well-written story, whilst simultaneously recording a concept record without unwanted pretentiousness. It was important to make the songwriting the main focus, yet at the same time have both the lyrics and music compliment each other, making them live in unison and also work independently as individual songs.
During this journey, the band has developed and explored many new areas outside their folk-doom comfort-zone by introducing a strong progressive element, which resulted in an advancement of their technical, musical and emotional expressions. The journey has been vibrant, powerful, challenging and at times very dark. Without the excessive downtime which the pandemic offered, this work would simply never have seen the light of day.
“150-Where the Old Gods Play” (Act 1 and 2) are based on a movie script written by Patrik Andersson Winberg (bassist and main songwriter in Dun Ringill) and Jonas Granath (teacher in religion and literature). Contact has been made with movie producers who have shown great interest in the script thus far. The story, based in Scotland in early 1900, centers around the manipulation of the church with a priest whose secret agenda only reveals itself at the end.
The beginning of Act 1 starts with the emotive track “Awakening”. The unmistakable drive and passion of the opener signals the start of a powerful inner-journey, complete with twists and turns for the band but also the now introduced main character, Lucia. Act 1 concludes with ‘The Last Supper’ which will leave the listener on a cliff-edge, almost anxious to discover how the story will unfold by the end of Act 2, which shall be released in 2024.
Welcome to Lucia and Dun Ringill’s journey Where the Old Gods Play……
“150-Where the Old Gods Play Act 1” is released on all streaming platforms via The Sign Records on the 4th of August. The album will soon be available on vinyl and CD, pre-orders can be made via the band’s Bandcamp: www.dunringill.bandcamp.com
“150-Where the Old Gods Play-Act 1” features guest performances by Per Wiberg (Keyboard on “the Parrish” and Sara Uneback (Violin on “Nathaniels Hymn” and intro to “The Devil Wears a Papal Tiara”), and was mastered by Magnus Lindberg.
