Rising from decades of silence, Unto Thee re-emerges in 2026 with a fierce, atmospheric vision, blending black metal chaos and precision into a powerful new chapter shaped by past and present.
1. Unto
Thee began as an idea in the late nineties before lying dormant for decades.
What made now the right moment to resurrect it in 2026?
I’ve had a lot of encouragement over the years from various good friends with
whom I’ve shared demos. Then I recently got the invitation to make this
music video - and it finally seemed like if I wasn’t going to take the
opportunity now, it’d never happen… and I didn’t want to regret that.
2.
Coming from your background with the cult thrash metal band Warbastard, how did
that experience shape the direction of Unto Thee’s sound?
I’d always intended to do black metal really, thrash was more of an indulgence.
So there was always a distinct lean into darker sounding riffs in Warbastard,
as well as a real chaotic energy. Interestingly it got us involved in the
actual Norwegian black metal scene accidentally, because all those guys really
love their authentic sounding thrash; we ended up getting signed to an
underground record label in Oslo (now called REKVIEM) and played our very first
gig there (part of Inferno Fest 2006 ‘vorspiel’ alongside Obliteration, Old -
and with DJ Fenriz spinning records) that was 20 years ago this year…
3. Your
music is often compared to Thorns, Emperor, and Myrkskog. How do you personally
feel about these comparisons, and what sets Unto Thee apart in your view?
I understand there
are elements from all of them where you could draw a comparison; Thorns has
influenced just about all black metal in existence and I’m a big fan, so I’m
thrilled to just hang out in the same sentence. I’m flattered by all
those comparisons really. Unto Thee is going to get darker and more dynamic and
I’d hope people can hear that Unto Thee is very much it’s own thing.
4. “We
Were Fire” marks the first official release of this new era. What is the story
or emotion behind this track?
The lyrics are slightly abstract - but they’re about regret, loss and a refusal
to give up. Musically I wanted to capture a real feeling of surging adrenaline
and power while maintaining a dark, haunting atmosphere. I like when songs take
a bit of a journey and capture a mood. The video is quite its own animal, I
left that in the hands of the director, who’s a big fan of both black metal and
horror movies, so it has a real suspenseful narrative and is beautifully done.
It was great fun to shoot - involved playing a drum kit with the cymbals on
fire and escaping quicksand during the sea scenes, which made for really
interesting footage.
5. The project blends hyper-aggressive black metal with a more hypnotic,
structured approach. How do you balance chaos and composition when writing?
The
composition is always in charge, it’s controlled chaos. It’s quite a trick to
have very distinct sections and riffs all intertwine seamlessly. It all comes
down to a matter of taste and making hard decisions, sometimes you have to be
quite cold and clinical.
6. As a
solo project led by a multi-instrumentalist, what does your creative process
typically look like from the first riff to the final recording?
I’ll usually start from a guitar riff and build from there, but it can be a
rhythmic idea that I’ve come up with for a drumbeat which inspires something
too. Once I’ve got enough of a composition in mind I’ll record a quick demo for
myself and then try a bunch of ideas and variations out on it to see what works
structurally - mainly to figure out if there’s something else needed or if it
stands on its own merit. Once I’m confident about that I’ll set about recording
it properly. It takes a while because I’m playing everything, recording and
producing too.
7. The
original demo archive remained hidden for over twenty years. Did you revisit
old material directly, or did you rebuild everything from scratch with a new
perspective?
So the first half of We Were Fire is all new. The moment I finished writing
that I remembered a complementary riff already composed in the nineties which
fit perfectly and became the second half of the song. The piano part for the
outro was even older. The vocal ideas and lyrics are all new. There are a few
adjustments required to make it translate but that’s all an enjoyable part of
the process.
8. How
do you approach atmosphere and texture in Unto Thee compared to more
traditional black metal songwriting?
With Unto
Thee, I’m attempting to keep all the harshness and noise of traditional black
metal but producing that mix in a modern context so that you can listen to it
in a car or on a smartphone speaker and still hear everything clearly. I also
like depth and space, so if you were to listen to it with headphones you can
focus on individual elements and detect more subtle nuances - there’s a lot of
thought gone into it. I do adore the purist approach with raw guitar sounds, no
production on the drums and basic mixing but I’ll save that for another
project.
9. With
several new singles planned, what direction should listeners expect
next—evolution, escalation, or something entirely unexpected?
It’ll be
very much recognizable Unto Thee - though I do have songs written with more
dynamics, slower riffs and even some acoustic ideas which will make their way
in. There’s no back catalogue out there, so no limits or expectations
really. But it will be faithful to the sound and overall atmosphere of
“We Were Fire”.
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