Norwegian black metal legends THE KOVENANT are making significant progress on their first studio album in more than two decades. Vocalist and bassist Nagash (Stian Arnesen) revealed in a recent interview with Rauta that the band has completed approximately half of the new material.
The upcoming album features a formidable lineup: alongside Nagash, keyboardist Steinar Sverd Johnsen and guitarists Ghul (Charles Hedger of MAYHEM) and Knut Magne Valle (ARCTURUS) are involved in songwriting, while MAYHEM drummer Hellhammer — who originally proposed the album concept — also contributes.
THE KOVENANT formed in 1993 (initially as COVENANT) and earned international acclaim for their 1999 landmark album "Nexus Polaris," which blended symphonic black metal with industrial and electronic elements. After releasing "Animatronic" in 2000, the band went dormant for over two decades before returning to the live stage at Eindhoven Metal Meeting in December 2024.
Nagash described the new material as "very aggressive, very dark, very atmospheric" with "a lot of keyboards" and a pronounced black metal character, while stressing the band won't simply revisit past glories: "I don't play in AC/DC, so you're not gonna get the same album for 40 years." Multiple major labels have already expressed interest. No release date has been announced.