Northern „The Sannikov Land: Of Willpower and Other Calamities“
At the beginning of 2024, the forge of the Pergerus creational group in Tartu was once again set ablaze when the black metal collective Northern began recording their new full-length concept album “The Sannikov Land: Of Willpower and Other Calamities.” Behind this masterpiece are I and III, veteran noise creators from the northern regions of South-Estonia. “This time, we prepared for the recording long and thoroughly, technically two years in advance,” admits III, who plays drums and keyboards on the album. “We refined every move to perfection and made several demo recordings to get just the right soundscape, cold and windy.”
I also acknowledges the extraordinary dedication to every last detail of the album: “There is no room for improvisation on this record, we wrote down all the songs and mathematically removed all the dissonances from the score, not to mention the ensemble playing. We used an extraordinary amount of technology and software for the recording, and learning how to use it was a full-time job in itself. I am particularly pleased with the sound of the solo drums on the album.”
I is responsible for vocals, guitars, and bass on the album, and he also played additional keyboard parts. In addition, he wrote two instrumental pieces, which essentially formed the basis for the album. III adds: “These two instrumental pieces inspired the idea to talk about the hypothesis of Sannikov land and the arduous challenges of early polar explorers on the album.”
Single “Of Ships and Storms”
Sannikov Land was a mysterious island in the eastern part of the Arctic Ocean, which several 19th-century polar explorers believed they had seen, but the existence of which has never been proven. Around 1902, the Baltic German explorer Eduard von Toll went missing in the Arctic Ocean while searching for Sannikov Land, and the members of his expedition have not been found to this day. The mystery of Sannikov Land remained unsolved for decades. “We have tried to reflect all these difficulties on our album,” explains III.
Unlike several previous Northern releases, the album “The Sannikov Land…” does not feature band member II, previously responsible for bass guitar and keyboards. “II took it upon himself to visit all of these legendary northern regions in order to gain a complete understanding of all the hardships and sacrifices of the past,” I and III explain. “All attempts to contact him over the past two years have been completely unsuccessful, but upon II’s return, we will immediately announce the dates of the world tour supporting the album.”
Northern is one of the oldest bands in the Tarbatu black metal circle, having released several exceptionally rare albums over the two decades of their activity. Their previous release, the two-track “Northern Hemispheres,” was released by Hexenreich Records on the compilation “Ürgsed” (2023, HXNRCH072). The album “The Sannikov Land: Of Willpower and Other Calamities” was released at the end of 2025 by the cassette label Trash Can Dance (TCD499).
