Frigid Imaginations: Cirkeln Streams New Single "Garden of Thorns"

Slowly in Pippin's aching head memory pieced itself together.... Of course: he and Merry had run off into the woods.... suddenly they had crashed right into a group of Orcs... Merry and he had drawn their swords, but the Orcs did not wish to fight, and had tried only to lay hold of them, even when Merry had cut off several of their arms and hands....Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight. He slew many of them and the rest fled. But they had not gone far on the way back when they were attacked again, by a hundred Orcs at least, some of them very large, and they shot a rain of arrows: always at Boromir. Boromir had blown his great horn till the woods rang, and at first the Orcs had been dismayed and had drawn back; but when no answer but the echoes came, they had attacked more fierce than ever. Pippin did not remember much more. His last memory was of Boromir leaning against a tree, plucking out an arrow; then darkness fell suddenly.

Tolkien, J. R. R. 1892-1973. The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings.

I am always interested in album art. In 2022, I reviewed "Thine Winter Realm Enthroned," the lead single from Cirkeln's second album A Song to Sorrow. In the review I made mention of the stunning artwork by Roger Garland which evoked tumultuous escapism. In 2023, I will do the same with the "Garden of Thorns" single which precedes their upcoming third album The Primitive Covenant, due later this year - we're premiering this track below. The artwork (at least for the single and unsure about the actual album) uses Boromir’s Last Stand by famed Tolkien artist Ted Nasmith. I do not know if this artwork in particular was chosen to represent the music of CirkeIn, but its steadfast nature in the face of death compliments music that is an icy wind against the face of a warrior.

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Cirkeln has always been interesting to listen to as their take on melodic black with an edge evokes an earlier style of metal championed by artists like Bathory, Vinterland, and even Summoning. "A Garden of Thorns" embraces more of an icy thrash style similar to Immortal for its sound but still retains the same outlook on both music and subject matter. This is less grandiose than previous records, but when contrasted with the same amount of fantasy literature for influence, the result is an even more delightful blend of extreme metal and high dorkery.

I enjoy longer songs from this style. The track length which stretched into the 7 minute territory allows the song time for introduction and also turns in its narrative for a complete story. Though I am not aware of the actual story behind "Garden of Thorns", I can absorb its emotion and storytelling through harsh vocals and wintery blast beats. This sound combined with the verdant artwork is a part of a unique style which trades corpse paint for hobby paint and is content with drawing maps for imaginary worlds in a cozy basement somewhere.

The band comments:

"Garden of Thorns" was the first track that I wrote and recorded for the album. So, it became sort of a north star for me to follow during the process of writing and recording this third Cirkeln LP. I knew I had captured a sound that I was very keen on exploring further. My goal with The Primitive Covenant was from the word go to indulge in different expressions than I had done previously. I wanted to strip my sound of all the bells and whistles (quite literally) and find a more, well, primitive sound where the base components of heavy metal were front and center. I wanted to lead with the riff rather than with the atmosphere. So, it became important to me to write and record in a way where I wasn´t hiding behind a washed-out production or a storm of reverb. I wanted it to be direct - to go straight for the jugular as it were. So, this song is in a way my mission statement and a promise of things to come on the record; a return to the raw materials from which all steel is refined.

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The Primitive Covenant releases November 3rd via True Cult Records.