I, The Mountain - Northmen (Pt 1/2)

The point of this blog was to write about music that I love, in particular those newer, less heard of bands who weren't being given the time they deserved. While I have, admittedly, only dipped my toes into that realm, I thought it silly not to speak about my own musical venture: I, The Mountain. 

Anyone who knows me personally knows my long held desires and efforts as a musician and finally in this I feel I have the right people around to inspire, motivate and understand my ideas and am finally in a place to write freely and openly due to this support. So this is not a review as such as it is me talking about I, The Mountain and this; Northmen, the first single from our upcoming EP: Saga; I will also be speaking about our second single The Maiden Fair, in the second part of this piece. 

I, The Mountain was first imagined 3 years ago now. I was in a place of personal, political and spiritual disillusion and found a lot of peace and solace in the cultures that have played key rolls in our cultivation as "British" people and so found, possibly the least appreciated but definitely the most misunderstood of our forefathers; the Vikings. I came to this first through my study of paganism and my Celtic heritage before realising that both Nordic and Celtic heritage are heavily intertwined. Many parts of the Nordic culture I found still resonated today, and others I thought we should bring back and think of more in this day and age. But particularly I loved the art-form of Skaldic poetry, not surprising as a vocalist/lyricist, and by extension of that the artwork that is the Sagas. Epics written a millennia ago that have shaped works that are so integral to popular culture today.

So what's Northmen all about then?

Northmen is but one part of our debut EP Saga. It chronicles the story of a Viking raid on England, from both the victim and aggressors stand point. The Vikings attack and capture god-fearing Saxon farmers, relieve them of their greatest treasures and leave them with nothing but a reminder of their visit: "Beware the wrath of the Northmen".

This barbarity was and is still a viewpoint held by many over the Viking people. That they were nothing but heretics and barbarians who were no better than the common criminal. Historically this impression of the godless nature of the Vikings has been exacerbated and superimposed the sanctity and purity of the Christians, who believed that faith alone would save them.

For me, in writing this, I wanted to create something that I felt was missing from the Hardcore/Metalcore genres, something that was still as fast and aggressive whilst being descriptive and poetic and overall holding a lot of my religious and political disdain.

You can check out our debut single via the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtTRWrI7cRM

And if you like what you hear, we've made Northmen free for download:
https://ithemountainuk.bandcamp.com/track/northmen

Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of days for the second part of this preview, where I will be talking about the second single released ahead of Saga; The Maiden Fair.

https://www.facebook.com/ithemountainuk/