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We released our album A Journey told through Fire on the 21st of June, 2023, and are currently looking for a label to work with for our upcoming releases. About 50% of the material for next album is already written. Plan is to enter studio late 2024 and release our fifth album spring 2025.

Note that we also own all rights to our previous albums, and that re-releasing these is a possibility.

Highlights

- The album was for the two first weeks of its release ranked as #1 album of 2023 over at Metalstorm.net, and it is still in the top 3. Official staff reviewer AndyMetalFreak has the album as #2 album of 2023 on his personal list.

- Youtube's biggest black metal channel, Black Metal Promotion, uploaded our album as a live premiere, and it has been one of the most popular uploads on their channel this year, reaching a higher view count than great releases from strong bands like Tsjuder, Thulcandra, Afsky, Nattverd, and more. Currently 100k views, 4k+ likes and over 300 comments with almost exclusively positive feedback and hype after one month.

- Monthly listeners on Spotify has had a huge spike after the release of this album. Currently at 6000+ and still growing each day.

- At Bandcamp the album is on the bestseller list of Norwegian releases

- Even though this was a digital release, we earned over 2000 EUR in the first two week of the release, where 50% is from digital purchases and the rest is a limited edition shirt we pressed for the occasion.

- The questions about physical release are piling up. We are pressing a limited edition CD at this time, but would prefer to work with a label who could help on this matter.

Reviews

9/10  - Hellfire-Magazin
"Here many influences from the genre have been combined into a creative and highly recommended masterpiece... an album with seven favorite tracks for me and a considerable addiction factor"
- Susanne Kneisel


90/100 - ZwareMetalen.com
"Sworn is simply a rock solid melodic black metal band from Norway, A Journey Told Through Fire should not be missing in any (melodic) black metal collection!"
- Joris Meeuwissen


9/10  - Broken Tomb Magazine

"Everything on this album is measured to the millimeter and at no time does the compositional level drop, which is why Sworn have created a work that keeps our attention for almost an hour. Do you remember the “Armada” from Keep of Kalessin? In my opinion it maintains a very similar essence..."
- Ramon


8.5/10 - Metalstorm.net
"Here's some of the highest standard and most exhilarating meloblack you'll hear this year... With some great musicianship and excellent songwriting, Sworn have really pulled it out of the bag, and will hopefully set a benchmark for a new wave of melodic black metal for the future to come"
- AndyMetalFreak


8.5/10 - Powermetal.de

"The only criticism I finally realize is that SWORN on "A Journey Told Through Fire" doesn't really reinvent the black metal wheel. But if we’re being honest, hardly any band does and as long as the typical genre trademarks are slapped around my ears as convincingly, catchy and without an apparent offer at a certain idol as on this disc, it would be a crime to hang on to such a little thing. Accordingly, there is also a whopping 8.5 points and a thick entry on my target list."
- Tobias Dahs


8.5/10 - Metalwar.gr
"..one of the best albums of the genre so far this year"

95/100 - Musika.be
The foursome knows how to convince us track after track – especially the extremely clever, inventive and melodic guitar work makes us melt – and we can therefore wholeheartedly recommend this 'A Journey Told Through' Fire' to every self-respecting lover of melodic music. black metal.

8.5/10 - Pasifagresif.com
"There are nearly 300 albums shared since the first day of 2023 on the Black Metal Promotion channel, which is the largest black metal channel on YouTube and has 355,000 followers as of now, and only 6-7 of them have been listened to over 50,000. Among these, the album that is at the top is SWORN, which reached 90,000 streams, outperforming groups such as TSJUDER, AFSKY, KAMPFAR, THULCANDRA. Moreover, they have achieved this in just 40 days, not since the beginning of the year. Well, that must be telling something."

Metallurgi.com
"Sworn has produced an outstanding piece of epic, melodic black metal on 'A Journey Told through Fire', a record that stands as another impressive monument to the rich traditions of the Westland black metal scene."

Wonderbox Metal
"To say the music is well-written is an understatement. Within the first couple of minutes it is amply apparent that Sworn have a talent for the style, and upon journeying through the entire album this is frequently reinforced. A Journey Told Through Fire is best experienced over time via multiple visits though, as each spin reveals a new facet of the band’s sound... A Journey Told Through Fire is a hideously accomplished work. It’s a creatively rich seam of black metal that Sworn are mining, and they have clearly struck pay dirt. Make sure that you don’t miss out on one of the strongest black metal albums to see the light of day in 2023 so far."

Stream directly

This player contains the full album and is for promotional purposes only. Copyright/all rights reserved SWORN. 

Stream on YouTube

Band info and history

- From Bergen, Norway
- Genre: Melodic Black metal
- Inspirations: 90s black metal, Ulver, Dissection, Dimmu Borgir, Alcest, Naglfar, Windir, Insomnium, etc.
- Founded in 2005 as a one man project and released demo Night Supremacy
- Signed with Twilight-Vertrieb in 2007 and released first album The Alleviation as a full band
- Toured with Behemoth, Aborted and Helrunar in 2007
- Played several festivals in Germany (Summer Breeze, Ragnarök, Ultima Ratio, ++) from 2007 to 2009
- Released second album Bastards and Conquerors late 2009
- Went into a hiatus between 2011 and 2016, but released Doomlights EP in 2013, which contained material for the planned fourth album.
- Back at full force with the self-released album Dark Stars and Eternity in 2018, which received great reviews. Among others 6/6 in Norway's most known metal magazine; Scream Magazine.
- Prepared for new live shows and headlined a gig in Trondheim, Norway, january 2020
- Had also booked gigs at both Oslo and Bergen in Norway, but was cancelled due to the pandemic.
- Spent the downtime during the pandemic writing the upcoming album A Journey told through Fire
- Played first show after the pandemic in Bergen, Norway in november 2022
- Released A Journey told through Fire June 21st, 2023

Pics

Live performances

Contact

Christoffer Kjørsvik
Ladebekken 13
7066 Trondheim
NORWAY


Phone: +47 452 43 374
Email: swornnorway@gmail.com

Facebook: facebook.com/swornnorway
Instagram: instagram.com/swornnorway
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