THE KOVENANT are two songs away from entering the studio for their first album in more than two decades.
Vocalist/bassist Stian "Nagash" Arnesen told Australia's Everblack podcast that the Norwegians never planned to get this far. "This was originally supposed to be just for a couple of festivals and that's it. But we had so much fun and enjoyed playing together again. And we always had a good connection and stuff. And we also have two new members, two new guitarists, one from MAYHEM, one from ARCTURUS."
"So, yeah, we have about eight new songs ready," he continued. "So two more and we have 10, and then we're going to the studio hopefully by the end of this year."
Asked what the material sounds like, Nagash laughed off the inevitability of the question. "Everyone asks that. I would say it's a mix of all the albums, plus new stuff. There's some stuff that sounds kinda like 'SETI' mixed with 'Nexus Polaris', and then there's other stuff that sounds something from the first album. There's some 'Animatronic'-type-ish songs. I guess you'll have to wait and see and hear it. To me, it sounds more metal than it used to. But also I hope there's gonna be parts where people go, like, 'What the hell are you fucking guys doing now?' And then I'll be, like, 'Yeah, awesome. That's good.'"
The writing is being handled mainly by Nagash and keyboardist Steinar Sverd Johnsen, with input from the two recruits: Charles "Ghul" Hedger of MAYHEM and Knut Magne Valle of ARCTURUS. Valle stepped in for founding member Amund "Psy Coma" Svensson, who is dealing with health problems.
THE KOVENANT formed in 1993 as COVENANT, releasing the symphonic black metal debut In Times Before The Light in 1997 before signing to Nuclear Blast and expanding into a full band with Astennu, Sverd, Sarah Jezebel Deva and MAYHEM's Hellhammer. The resulting Nexus Polaris (1998) won a Spellemannsprisen — Norway's Grammy equivalent — and remains the band's best-loved record. A dispute with a Swedish electronic act of the same name forced the K in 1999, coinciding with the industrial turn of Animatronic.
The band returned to the stage in December 2024 at Eindhoven Metal Meeting, and has since played Nexus Polaris in full at selected shows.