Interview: Burden of Ymir
Fantasy and mythology are timeless ways of storytelling in human history, often embued with heroes, villains, and creatures that mirror our own humanity in a magical way. Whether it be The Lord of The Rings trilogy or ancient Greek mythology, every story comes from a mind that longs to make sense of the author’s current reality, as well as their own views of life in general.
Beowulf is a mythological figure that has fascinated us throughout centuries of storytelling, including black folk metal artist, Burden of Ymir. In his latest album titled Heorot, Burden of Ymir takes a musical journey into the narrative of Beowulf, blending a mix of storytelling and Viking black metal into a masterpiece of a record.
Blacforje had the honor of connecting with the man behind Burden of Ymir to talk about the artists’ inspiration, the them of Beowulf in their recent album, and what other projects are on the horizon.
Image by Burden of Ymir
Thanks for taking time to speak with Blacforje about Burden of Ymir! It’s a pleasure to connect with you. You’re based in Ontario, Canada. Correct?
Thanks for your interest and support. Yes, I am in Ontario. More specifically I am in Sudbury which is in Northern Ontario.
Do you have a big black metal/Viking metal scene where you are?
I am not particularly social beyond a very small group of close friends, most of whom are not into metal, and I don’t really go out anywhere, so I have no connection to the current local scene. As far as I know, the current metal scene (if you can call it a “scene”) is small, and the black metal segment is even smaller. When I was younger, we had an amazing local punk scene that included anybody “alternative” - punks of all sorts, goths, metal heads, etc. But that was a long time ago!
Burden of Ymir is just one of many projects you manage, but I find the mythology and emphasis on tales of fantasy to very appealing. Your recent album Heorot is themed around Beowulf. How did you decide to make an entire album centered around that one figure?
I’ve always been interested in Vikings and particularly fond of the story of Beowulf in any incarnation. Burden of Ymir albums have traditionally each focused on some aspect of or story from Norse mythology, but I felt an album about Beowulf wouldn’t be too much of a departure.
‘Heorot’ by Burden of Ymir
For readers out there who don’t know you that well, can you give us a list of the other projects you do outside of Burden of Ymir?
I make a lot of music including Burden of Ymir, which is typically considered blackened folk metal or some other related description. As far as others that are still active, I have additional solo projects including olim, which is atmospheric post-black metal, and Drowstorm, which is dissonant unorthodox black metal. I am also a member of the black metal trio Vintertodt and leader of the duo Swamp Fiend which plays stoner metal with influences from blues and black metal. I’ve also recently started a solo synthwave project called Mantic Tower, but that is quite new, and I am still recording the debut.
Back to Burden of Ymir. What is it behind this particular project that inspires your writing? Is it a love for mythology and tales of old, or do you have another driving influence behind it?
I like writing music to stories. Burden of Ymir probably exemplifies this the most of all my musical outlets. I’m a big fan of Norse mythology, and there are plenty of stories and characters to write about.
Tell us about you as an artist and a human being, if you are comfortable sharing some details with us. Are you a spiritually minded person? Do you have a philosophical worldview that you live by individually?
I am vehemently anti-religion, anti-conservative, anti-racism...basically anti-anything right wing or right wing adjacent. I am a scientist by profession. My music is a passion I am lucky enough to pursue beside that, and I work with a number of great labels for my various musical projects. As far as living by a philosophical worldview I mostly just try to be a good person.
What new music is on the horizon, whether with Burden of Ymir or your other projects?
Because of busy label release schedules, I frequently have to wait long periods for albums to release. For example, Heorot was finished more than a year before it was released. I am currently waiting on label schedules to release the next olim album and the debut Swamp Fiend album which will both probably be out by late Summer or early Fall of this year. Recording for a new Vintertodt EP is in progress, but we are just chipping away at it very slowly. I am also currently writing and recording the first Mantic Tower album. The new Burden of Ymir album and the first Drowstorm album just came out recently, so it will probably be a while before I start on anything new for those projects.
You can follow Burden of Ymir on Bandcamp, Instagram, and Facebook.
