Taake is a Norwegian black metal/viking metal band whose name is derived from the Norwegian word “;t?ke”; which means fog.
In 1993 Ulvhedin H?st formed the first version of the band Taake under the name Thule. Thule released two demos “;Der Vinterstormene Raste”; 1993 and “;Omfavnet Av Svarte Vinger”; 1994. Somewhere between the release of the latter demo and “;Manndaudsvinter”; in 1995, the band transformed from Thule to Taake which was more representative of the band and the area where H?st was from the mountains of Bergen, Norway. Shortly after this release a 7”; EP was released in 1996 called “;Koldbrann i Jesu Marg,”; which would be the last demo recording that Taake would release.
The first full-length album “;Nattestid Ser Porten Vid”; was released by Wounded Love Records in 1999. The album was written entirely by H?st but he brought in a session musician, Tundra to perform bass and drums. It was recorded throughout 1997 and 1998 at Grieghallen. “;Nattestid…”; is part I of a trilogy, all the writing on the CD and lyrics in the booklet are written in runes. However, all of the lyics are sung in Norwegian.
The second installment of the trilogy “;Over Bj?rgvin Graater Himmerik”; was released in 2002. Again a seven song concept album, the theme for “;Bj?rgvin…”; is death. On this record, H?st surrounded himself with a band for the record: C. Corax on Guitars, Keridwen on bass, and Mutt (Gaahlskagg, Trelldom, Sigfader) on drums.
The final installment of the trilogy was released in 2005 by Dark Essence Records. Entitled “;…D?dskvad”; it adhered to the 7 song format (representing the 7 mountains surrounding Bergen) of the first two records, but showed a change in style. While the first two records in the trilogy were clearly 80s metal influenced, this album was performed in a more traditional black metal style which was reminscent of Enslaved or Bathory. “;…D?dskvad”; also differs from the other in that it features a number of guest musicians. These include the infamous Nattefrost from Carpathian Forest, Taipan (Orcustus), and Nordavind (ex-Carpathian Forest), as well as others. Following this release of this record Taake has had some minor releases, and played a few festivals (most notably Hole In The Sky Festival in Norway, with Ivar Bj?rnson of Enslaved on guitars), but according to the official website they are “;on ice for awhile.”;
Preceding the still unconfirmed 2006/2007 European tour, Taake are revamping their official homepage, moving away from the current defunct site.
In 1993 Ulvhedin H?st formed the first version of the band Taake under the name Thule. Thule released two demos “;Der Vinterstormene Raste”; 1993 and “;Omfavnet Av Svarte Vinger”; 1994. Somewhere between the release of the latter demo and “;Manndaudsvinter”; in 1995, the band transformed from Thule to Taake which was more representative of the band and the area where H?st was from the mountains of Bergen, Norway. Shortly after this release a 7”; EP was released in 1996 called “;Koldbrann i Jesu Marg,”; which would be the last demo recording that Taake would release.
The first full-length album “;Nattestid Ser Porten Vid”; was released by Wounded Love Records in 1999. The album was written entirely by H?st but he brought in a session musician, Tundra to perform bass and drums. It was recorded throughout 1997 and 1998 at Grieghallen. “;Nattestid…”; is part I of a trilogy, all the writing on the CD and lyrics in the booklet are written in runes. However, all of the lyics are sung in Norwegian.
The second installment of the trilogy “;Over Bj?rgvin Graater Himmerik”; was released in 2002. Again a seven song concept album, the theme for “;Bj?rgvin…”; is death. On this record, H?st surrounded himself with a band for the record: C. Corax on Guitars, Keridwen on bass, and Mutt (Gaahlskagg, Trelldom, Sigfader) on drums.
The final installment of the trilogy was released in 2005 by Dark Essence Records. Entitled “;…D?dskvad”; it adhered to the 7 song format (representing the 7 mountains surrounding Bergen) of the first two records, but showed a change in style. While the first two records in the trilogy were clearly 80s metal influenced, this album was performed in a more traditional black metal style which was reminscent of Enslaved or Bathory. “;…D?dskvad”; also differs from the other in that it features a number of guest musicians. These include the infamous Nattefrost from Carpathian Forest, Taipan (Orcustus), and Nordavind (ex-Carpathian Forest), as well as others. Following this release of this record Taake has had some minor releases, and played a few festivals (most notably Hole In The Sky Festival in Norway, with Ivar Bj?rnson of Enslaved on guitars), but according to the official website they are “;on ice for awhile.”;
Preceding the still unconfirmed 2006/2007 European tour, Taake are revamping their official homepage, moving away from the current defunct site.
