From the very beginning of its existence, the Icelandic scene has permeated the underground circles with its discernment and bleakness, and among the representatives there are undoubtedly deviant entities that do not hesitate to step out of the already established frameworks and present new approaches to making music.

FORTÍÐ is an Icelandic trio born from the mind  of  the well-known Einar Thorberg Guðmundsson (Curse, Eldur, Katla., Midnattsvrede, Potentiam, ex-Thule, ex-Den Saakaldte, ex-Mind as Mine, ex-Hel), who on October 13th will release their seventh full-length album ‘Narkissos’ – precisely a work that follows in the footsteps of the band’s past endevours  and contains Iceland’s core viking energy, but also definitely contrasts and moves away from what most of you probably know as ‘Icelandic black metal’.

Lyrically, the band adheres to paganism and Old Norse mythology, although the album title itself is a reference to Greek mythology and the myth of Narcissus, the Boeotian hunter who saw his reflection in the water and fell in love with it. Looking at his beautiful face, he, distracted and in love with himself, tried to kiss his reflection and drowned.
As you can already guess, Guðmundsson uses the theme of narcissistic personality disorder as a constant red thread connecting each of the pieces in the album, presenting the lifespan of a violent and manipulative protagonist who plays with people as pawns and uses them for his own purposes.
When his true nature is finally  revealed and came to light, he becomes angry, paranoid, and his self-pity completely starts to dominate his life, as his story ends with a picture of a lonely old man abandoned by everyone, sulently awaiting for his death.

The topic of malignant narcissism is very relevant these days, as in my opinion, it is the most difficult conditions of modern society to deal with. As someone who has studied this disorder academically and met many people with such personality traits, I won’t go into details, but I will say that addressing the subject in a music album, accompanied with beautiful music, is extremely important to our society and only by one such point of view it would be interesting to hear FORTÍÐ’s musical narrative, which is perhaps one of their most personal to date.

Musically, Narkissos presents a enormous variety of styles and elements.
Black metal, death metal, heavy and thrash metal are played in a whirlwind of sounds, mainly harmonies, which create the band’s typical Icelandic metal, which escapes any qualifications and at the same time carries in its core the Icelandic spirit and transports you to the northern sounds landscapes.

The album features both raw and captivating tracks that rely on heavier and more raw black metal riffs and blasting vocals, as well as more perceptually playful songs that, as I mentioned above, combine even more influences, with the band in each one cut from the album fully indulges in raw expression without committing to a specific style.

In the seventh track of the album, for example, entitled „Illt skal með illu gjalda“, which translates as „evil is repaid with evil“, „evil returns to evil“ or „evil is answered with evil“, as well as the following songs „Tímans ör“ („Arrow of Time“) and „Við daðans dyr“ („At the door of death“), the main motive is precisely built on black metal riffs and cold atmosphere, the furious heavy vocals carrying a monstrous energy charge, lightened in brief moments of more fractured death metal riffs, acoustic melodies and unconventional original ideas.
Øystein Hansen’s acoustic guitars in „Illt skal með illu gjalda“ are remarkable and definitely deserve a mention, without any doubt.

In the title we can also hear the beautiful clean singing in two voices, traditional for the sound of  FORTÍÐ and Einar’s other bands like Katla., as well as gentle soaring angelic choruses, which speaks volumes for the band’s range and its ability to sound like itself, even if it doesn’t adheres to some particular stylistic structure. As much as I like Einar’s harsh vocals, I can’t help but admit that his clean vocals are no less captivating and in combination with the cold instrumentals create a unique Icelandic atmosphere that is very specific to the musician and the band and is indicative of their authenticity .

With „Narkissos“ FORTÍÐ open the door to one of the darkest and most dangerous states of mind and psyche, presenting us with almost an hour of mesmerizing tunes that take us on a journey through the reality of malignant narcissism in a personal story that is guaranteed to leave you spellbound at times with its soulful atmosphere and revelations. Sombre and eerie, but at the same time enlightening and musically enriched, „Narkissos“ is an album with its own message and waves like a battle flag every word and chord, enchanting  us into its own alluring  seclusion.

Favorite songs: „Vefurinn sem ég spinn“ и „Illt skal með illu gjalda“

You can hear some of the songs in the album here:

Band: FORTÍÐ
Album: „Narkissos“
Release date: 13.10.2023
Label: Prophecy Productions | Lupus Lounge
Order link: http://lnk.spkr.media/narkissos