London By Norse, the Hammer-partnered four-day feast of Nordic culture that invades London from March 17-20, has announced more details, including the support bands for Enslaved’s career-spanning series of shows to celebrate their 25th anniversary, and the special merch for a festival that also includes Warduna, the UK live debut of Wardruna/Enslaved collaboration Skuggsjá and more.
Enslaved are playing three shows over the course of London By Norse. The first show …Of Frost And Fire takes place at The Dome in Tufnell Park on Thursday March 17 and covers their early period from the Hordanes Land album through to Blodhemn. The support act will be fellow Bergen voyagers and exhilarating progressive mavericks Vulture Industries - a band who have also collaborated with London By Norse poster artist Costin Chioreanu on the haunting Lost Among Liars video.
Bergen’s black/Viking metal warriors Helheim will be supporting Enslaved for the second show, From The Runic Depths, which takes place at the Underworld on Friday March 18 and covers the mid-period albums from Mardraum through the landmark Isa album to Ruun. The final show, entitled Spinning Wheel Ritual, takes place at the Coronet in Elephant & Castle on Saturday March 19, alongside Wardruna and the Skuggsjá performance as it takes the band through to the present day.
Says Enslaved co-found Ivar Bjørnson, “When you have the perfect location for celebrating the most special of occasions - your 25th anniversary - you’ve got endless supplies of the best beer (that’s a hint, more on that later) and you’re playing three nights in a row in one of your favourite cities, what else could you want? Having your friends there, of course!”
London By Norse has also revealed the special merch that will be available at the event. These include:
- Event Single Poster prints, limited to 50 each
- Skuggsja Skuggsja: A Piece For Mind & Mirror 2x12”, Double 12” vinyl (33 rpm) with printed inner sleeves and deluxe gatefold packaging made of grey board with special printing silver vinyl (limited to 150 pieces only available at London by Norse or the Skuggsjá webshop. Fifty will be brought to the event at The Coronet on Saturday).
- Exclusive and very limited Enslaved merchandise, based on the design for each event poster.
“With the special setting and setlists we have planned for London By Norse,” says Ivar, “of course the merchandise has to be of the exclusive variety too! Both Enslaved and Skuggsjá will bring some very rare merchandise to the concert – Enslaved will bring a series of shirts with Costin Chioreanu’s artwork; one for each of the three nights as seen on the posters for the event. Each shirt will be limited copies, so this will be something unique!”
London By Norse also features an expedition of artwork by black metal icon Kristian ‘Gaahl’ Espedal, a live performance by Ivar Bjørnson’s solo dark psych-ambient project Baardspec and a workshop by Wardruna founder.
Weekend tickets have now sold out, but single day tickets are still available at the official By Norse website here, so move fast or spend an eternity in regret!
