Norwegian progressive metal band Green Carnation has announced the release of A Dark Poem, Part I: The Shores of Melancholia, the first chapter of an ambitious album trilogy, set for release on September 5, 2025, via Season of Mist. The lead single, In Your Paradise, is now available with an official music video on the Season of Mist YouTube channel:
Pre-orders are open at orcd.co/greencarnationadarkpoem1, and the album can be pre-saved on Spotify.
Formed in 1990 in Kristiansand, Norway, by former Emperor bassist Terje “Tchort” Vik Schei, Green Carnation comprises Tchort (guitar), Kjetil Nordhus (vocals), Stein Roger Sordal (bass), Bjørn Harstad (guitar), Jonathan Alejandro Perez (drums), and Endre Kirkesola (keyboards).
Inspired by Arthur Rimbaud’s ode to Shakespeare’s Ophelia, A Dark Poem, Part I: The Shores of Melancholia features six tracks:
- As Silence Took You (7:12)
- In Your Paradise (7:04)
- Me My Enemy (7:17)
- The Slave That You Are (Featuring Grutle Kjellson of Enslaved) (6:16)
- The Shores of Melancholia (5:38)
- Too Close to the Flame (9:16)
Recorded at DUB Studio in Kristiansand and produced by Endre Kirkesola, Stein Roger Sordal, and Kjetil Nordhus, the album blends the band’s signature heavy prog hooks with melancholic themes, reflecting a troubled relationship between personal lives and the external world. The single In Your Paradise combines majestic guitar leads, heavy bass grooves, and bright synths, with Nordhus’s baritone addressing misinformation and societal doubt, underscored by Ingrid Ose’s flute.
The band, known for their 2001 single-track epic Light of Day, Day of Darkness, draws from their 25-year discography, which spans death metal, doom, gothic, hard rock, and acoustic styles, as seen in their 2020 release Leaves of Yesteryear. The trilogy concept, sparked by Tchort after their 2016 reunion, builds on their ambition to push boundaries, following their 2006 acoustic album Acoustic Verses and hard rock pivot The Quiet Offspring. The Shores of Melancholia will premiere live at ProgPower USA in September 2025, alongside acts like Symphony X and Vola. The In Your Paradise video, directed by Rikard Amodei, features cinematography by Tor Sellevold Solbakken and Walter Cortes, with support from Cultiva and Kilden Performing Arts Centre.
Follow Green Carnation for updates on their official website or Season of Mist.