Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:50:54 — 253.8MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | RSS | The Full List of Platforms We Exist On
Nasheim is an atmosphere-heavy extreme metal project from Sweden denizen E. Grahn. He founded Nasheim nearly twenty years ago when he was in high school with a couple of close friends. However, as time wore on, his friends departed the project one by one, eventually leaving E. to be the sole torchbearer. This was of no issue to him, though. In the project’s formative years, E. was writing every dimension of Nasheim’s sound from notes and riffs to their flow and arrangement. So despite the dwindling ranks, E. began to fully embrace Nasheim as his primary artistic undertaking. And through this process, the lyrics and concepts underlying his compositions matured. Viking-themed black metal in Nasheim’s early days eventually morphed into themes more personal, introspective, and nature-based.
Although Nasheim has existed for nearly two decades up to this point, his first LP, Solens Vemod, did not release until February 2014. Almost exactly five years later his second LP, Jord och aska, dropped. Roughly equivalent to “Soil and ash” in English, Jord och aska grapples with several abstract ideas that, while not adhering to an overarching concept, are thematically linked via the words soil and ash as they recur as lyrics in each of the album’s three tracks.
Melodic, verdant, somber, and sodden in ash, are but a few descriptors to illustrate Nasheim’s tone. And emanating from this aural concoction is a piercing sense of melancholy. This is simultaneously reflected in E.’s lyrics, a poignant example being his desire to forfeit his anatomy to merge with nature. Jord och aska is ripe with despondent yet igneous atmosphere. While the album is the main focus of this podcast episode, E. also expounds upon Nasheim’s early years. He speaks about his writing process, his absence from social media, and the current state of extreme metal. There is much more to unearth in our exchange and we sincerely hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for listening.
* * * * * *
You can experience the entirety of Jord och aska in the embed player above or by visiting Nasheim’s Bandcamp page. Though Nasheim has no social media presence, you can get in direct contact with E. Grahn via the Bandcamp contact form, which is accessible via the “Contact Nasheim” hyperlink at the aforementioned Bandcamp address.
Leave a Reply