SOURCE – What are the band’s expectations for A Dark Poem, Part I: The Shores of Melancholia, considering that Leaves of Yesteryear received such an excellent response?
Kjetil Nordhus (Vocals) – We have high expectations, and the early feedback for The Shores of Melancholia has been amazing. It is certainly a very special feeling to finally share the material we have been working on for seven to eight years with the rest of the world. The release of Leaves of Yesteryear was a great experience for us and made us believe that people were still eager to hear new music from Green Carnation, which has been a strong motivation in our work on the ambitious project that is A Dark Poem.
SOURCE – A Dark Poem, Part I: The Shores of Melancholia is the first album in a trilogy. What can you tell us about that?
Kjetil Nordhus (Vocals) – The idea of creating a trilogy was born sometime after the release of Light of Day, Day of Darkness in the early 2000s. Deciding what to do after such an album was not easy, and we eventually chose the direction we did. I am glad we chose this path because I honestly do not think we would have been able to pull it off in the manner we believe we have managed now.
Musically, the compositions are connected. Lyrically, this is not a chronological story that starts with the first song and ends with the last. All three albums deal with the same themes and feelings—alienation from the world and from your own place in it—both in the big picture and on a personal level, including your relationships with the people who are close to you.
We hope the first album stands on its own, without listeners feeling they are missing anything. We feel the same about the second album. And we hope that when people hear the third album, they will understand that it is all connected.
SOURCE – Among the themes explored in A Dark Poem, Part I: The Shores of Melancholia, one is the theme of immediacy. How do you perceive this sense of immediacy in today’s society and within the band’s career?
Kjetil Nordhus (Vocals) – We have wanted to create something that is both immediate and that grows on the listener over time. We have been working a lot on this. We have a great songwriter in the band, Stein Roger Sordal. He and I have written all the music for the three albums. He is a master of melody and has a great ability to craft melodies that really speak to people, whether in the instrumental arrangements or in the vocal melodies and choruses. During the writing process, I was very eager to preserve all of that while shaping the entire compositions, so that every theme, every transition, and every section fits together seamlessly. Hopefully, this combination will make the songs feel immediate on first listen and then grow on people, who will discover new details each time.
SOURCE – “The Slave That You Are” stands out musically from the other tracks on the album, most of which have a strong melodic presence. How did the composition of this track come about?
Kjetil Nordhus (Vocals) – That song evolved in a more extreme direction as we worked on the demo. We agreed to let each song determine its own direction, and this one had a fairly aggressive atmosphere from the start. Eventually, we realized we needed more extreme vocals to fulfill the song’s potential, and I immediately thought that Grutle’s vocals would be perfect. I have known him for many years, we had discussed collaborating several times, and he is a friend of the band as well. So, fortunately, he accepted our approach. Of course, his performance suits the song perfectly!
SOURCE – How was the production process for the music videos “In Your Paradise” and “The Shores of Melancholia”?
Kjetil Nordhus (Vocals) – The label wanted us to appear in the videos this time around. We used to “hide” by doing art videos, which we thought were amazing, but this time we had to be in them ourselves. Not being very experienced in planning music videos, we asked a friend of ours who owns the largest rental company for sound and lighting for venues and festivals to let us shoot in his warehouse. We recorded both videos in one session there. We needed (of course) two different storylines to make them distinct, and I think the team who handled post-production did a great job!
SOURCE – Niklas Sundin was responsible for the album’s artwork. Will there be any animated videos, considering his extensive experience in this field?
Kjetil Nordhus (Vocals) – We are discussing this and may explore it with music to be released at a later stage. Niklas is the perfect fit for this project as well, and I would love to do something like that for a specific piece of music on the third album. Let’s see if we can make it happen.
SOURCE – How do you currently evaluate the royalties received from platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp?
Kjetil Nordhus (Vocals) – Spotify doesn’t give us any meaningful royalties. And with Bandcamp, we agreed that the label would run our page, so we don’t see much direct royalty income from there either. We run our own web shop through Big Cartel, which provides our direct income from merchandise and albums.
SOURCE – Following the album’s release, what are the band’s next steps in terms of live performances and touring?
Kjetil Nordhus (Vocals) – We will play at ProgPower USA, premiering all the new songs two days before the first album is released on September 5. So, we are ready for the stage. Hopefully, we’ll have some great shows and festivals in 2026 lined up soon. We are not in a position to go on long tours, but we are very eager to present our music to as many people as possible over the next few years!
Photo Credit: Lars Gunnar Liestøl
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