Biography
Deriving their appellation from the Norse mythological designation for warriors slain in battle and escorted by valkyries to Odin’s hall in Valhalla, Einherjer took shape in Norway during 1993. The Haugesund-based outfit fused folk passages with symphonic black metal while drawing lyrical inspiration from Scandinavian and North Germanic lore, positioning themselves among the earliest practitioners of Viking metal. Their inaugural full-length recording, Dragons of the North, appeared in 1996 via Napalm Records. Operations halted in 2004, yet the group reactivated in 2010 and subsequently delivered further blackened Viking metal albums, among them the 2014 release Av Oss for Oss, nominated for a Spellemannsprisen in the Best Metal Album category, and the widely praised North Star of 2021.
Guitarist Frode Glesnes and drummer Gerhard Storesund established Einherjer in their hometown municipality early in 1993. Joined by vocalist Rune Bjelland and bassist Audun Wold, they tracked the Aurora Borealis demo later that year, a recording later reissued at the start of 2000. Regional attention from the demo and subsequent live activity led to the 1994 EP Leve Vikingaanden. Following Wold’s shift to second guitar and the recruitment of bassist Stein Sund, the band secured a Napalm Records contract that yielded Dragons of the North. Century Media Records issued the next EP, Far Far North, in 1997. After further personnel adjustments that placed Ragnar Viske behind the microphone and Erik Elden on bass, the stabilized lineup produced the 1998 album Odin Owns Ye All. Two additional studio efforts, Norwegian Native Art in 2000 and Blot in 2003, preceded the official dissolution announced the next year.
Glesnes and Storesund revived the project in 2010, signing with Indie Recordings to issue the long-awaited fifth album Norrøn. Commercial traction followed with 2014’s Spellemannsprisen-nominated Av Oss for Oss, which, like its predecessor, reduced the folk components prominent on earlier works in favor of a more melodic blackened-metal orientation. A re-recorded version of Dragons of the North surfaced in 2016, succeeded by North Star in 2021.
Guitarist Frode Glesnes and drummer Gerhard Storesund established Einherjer in their hometown municipality early in 1993. Joined by vocalist Rune Bjelland and bassist Audun Wold, they tracked the Aurora Borealis demo later that year, a recording later reissued at the start of 2000. Regional attention from the demo and subsequent live activity led to the 1994 EP Leve Vikingaanden. Following Wold’s shift to second guitar and the recruitment of bassist Stein Sund, the band secured a Napalm Records contract that yielded Dragons of the North. Century Media Records issued the next EP, Far Far North, in 1997. After further personnel adjustments that placed Ragnar Viske behind the microphone and Erik Elden on bass, the stabilized lineup produced the 1998 album Odin Owns Ye All. Two additional studio efforts, Norwegian Native Art in 2000 and Blot in 2003, preceded the official dissolution announced the next year.
Glesnes and Storesund revived the project in 2010, signing with Indie Recordings to issue the long-awaited fifth album Norrøn. Commercial traction followed with 2014’s Spellemannsprisen-nominated Av Oss for Oss, which, like its predecessor, reduced the folk components prominent on earlier works in favor of a more melodic blackened-metal orientation. A re-recorded version of Dragons of the North surfaced in 2016, succeeded by North Star in 2021.
Albums
Dragons of the North (Remastered)
2021
North Star
2021
Norrøne Spor
2018
Dragons of the North XX
2016
Av Oss, For Oss
2014
Norrøn
2011
Blot
2004
Norwegian Native Art
2000
Odin Owns Ye All
1998
Far Far North - Single
1998
Dragons of the North
1996
Singles
Live
