Vreid

Formed in the wake of Windir's dissolution following the tragic death of leader and primary songwriter Terje "Valfar" Bakken—who succumbed to a snowstorm during a trek through the isolated Sogndal region—the Norwegian black metal outfit Vreid ("wrath" in their mother tongue) launched its career with the 2004 release Kraft. Since then the group has held a prominent position within Norway's extreme metal landscape, delivering conceptually ambitious records such as I Krig (2007), Milorg (2009), Sólverv (2015), and Wild North West (2021) that fuse aggressive yet tuneful Norse metal with narratives drawn from history.

Rather than repurpose the Windir moniker in the absence of their late colleague or replicate that band's folk-inflected approach, the remaining members—Sture Dingsøyr (vocals, guitar), Stian "Strom" Bakketeig (guitar), Jarle "Hváll" Kvåle (bass), and Jørn "Steingrim" Holen (drums)—opted to begin anew. Their initial long-player Kraft appeared in 2004, succeeded by Pitch Black Brigade in 2006 and I Krig in 2007; the last of these, paired with its 2009 counterpart Milorg, formed a diptych centered on Norway's World War II resistance and eventual freedom. Later works including V (2011), Welcome Farewell (2013), Sólverv (2015), Lifehunger (2018), and Wild North West (2021) sustained this historical focus while traversing an expansive spectrum of black metal approaches, from raw blackened thrash to the avant-garde's more atmospheric experiments.