HADES - ... Again Shall Be / Alone Walkyng 2LP

Reissue of first album from 1994 along with their demo from 1993.

Countless words have been written about the black metal scene that flourished in Norway during the early 1990s, usually focused on the same few bands—Mayhem, Immortal, Darkthrone, etc.—that have come to be synonymous with the phrase “Norwegian Black Metal.” If those bands formed the nucleus of the scene, HADES was in tight orbit around them.

After playing in AMPUTATION and IMMORTAL, guitarist JORN INGE TUNSBERG (who was also playing in OLD FUNERAL at the time) united with drummer REMI ANDERSEN to conjure Hades. Bored with bands more focused on speed than songwriting, the two took a multi-dimensional approach, slowing down the pace and emphasizing atmosphere and composition. Together with bassist/vocalist JANTO GARMANSLUND and second guitarist ANDREAS NAGELSETT, they recorded the 3-song Alone Walkyng demo.

Rather than settle for crude production, Hades recorded the demo at Grieghallen Studio, which Tunsberg knew from having previously recorded there with Amputation. Among those who ended up with a copy of the Alone Walkyng demo was JON JAMSHID, who had recently founded Full Moon Productions, one of the first black metal labels in the United States. Jamshid expressed his desire to put out Hades’ debut as one of the first releases on the label. The band agreed, and, in 1994, following Nagelsett’s dismissal, they recruited STIG HAGENES as a second guitarist and recorded …Again Shall Be.

Hades’ approach deviated from the sullen, elongated melodies stretched across frantic blast beats commonly associated with many of their Norwegian peers. Instead, drawing inspiration from Quorthon’s Viking-era Bathory recordings, Hades tended toward epic, mid-paced tracks, richly layered with keyboards and acoustic guitars, evoking the existential vigor of battle and a forlorn longing for the ancient pagan North.