Beginnings live playthrough video

Ethereal Kingdoms beginnings live full band playthrough

Join us in our rehearsal room for our very first full band live playthrough video.
For this live session of Beginnings, we invited our good friend, outstanding violinist and singer Amalie Skriver.

Beginnings – Full band live playthrough with Amalie Skriver.
Watch now on the official Mighty Music youtube channel.

The theatrical metal experience – behind the curtain

We wanted to share the energy we experience in our rehearsal room and invite you to feel what happens behind the stage curtains of Ethereal Kingdoms.
This video has a more low-key feeling compared to the character of our live shows, providing an intimate and personal experience of the dynamics in our little theatrical metal ensemble.

Capturing the spontaneous fun while still creating a visually interesting outcome was easier than it sounded. With some lights, coffee, cookies and a bit of additional sound adjustments, we got right into the feeling as the camera started rolling.

Ethereal Kingdoms live band playthrough

With a little help from our friends

Our good friend Christoffer Valentin Hildebrandt helped out with the mix and production of the audio tracks.
He created the majestic soundscape of his band SUNLESS DAWN‘s critically acclaimed debut album “TIMEWEAVER”. If you’re into progressive metal, definitely check it out!


Video was filmed by Alexander Petrovich Birk, who also documented our performance with WINTERSUN in 2019. An absolute joy to work with the guy again.

Ethereal Kingdoms beginnings full band live playthrough behind the scenes. Camera operator Alexander Petrovich Birk captured the fun and spontaneous energy of this evening in our rehearsal room
Camera operator Alexander Petrovich Birk captured the fun and spontaneous energy of this evening in our rehearsal room


With some editing magic, Sofia brought it all together at her little workspace-corner in our rehearsal room.

Ethereal kingdoms beginnings live version editing

A special guest

Amalie Skriver is not only featured in this live session. She is a strong presence on our 2019 debut album Hollow Mirror.

She appears with her emotive solo violin and otherworldly backing vocals on most of the tracks. Amalie has also joined us at our special theatrical performances at NORDIC NOISE FESTIVAL, FINNTROLL SUPPORT, and latest at our WINTERSUN support show in 2019.

Ethereal Kingdoms featuring violinist Amalie Skriver

The story of Beginnings

On Hollow Mirror, every song is a story of its own, with veins and ties reaching across the tracks and combining into a larger overlying narrative.
Beginnings is the counterpart for our 2019 single Endings. Together, they tell the story of blind hope and bitter consequences. They are also related to the story of Heartchamber, which acts as a prequel for the events unfolding in the two songs.

If you look closely at the background of our video, you will notice our stage backdrops having the imagery of the characters from the artwork for Beginnings and Endings, but in a ghostly, incorporeal form.

Hear the story of Endings here, with this beautiful lyric video created by Scott Rudd, featuring Anna Holms enchanting artwork:

“Frighteningly powerful”

Ethereal Kingdoms udlejre kirke review by Nordica Live

The very first Ethereal Kingdoms church concert took place Friday the 21st of February in Udlejre Kirke, Copenhagen.


Journalist Nargiz Galib Andersen witnessed this sold-out special theatrical performance performance, where we incorporated choir, organ and flute soloist with the metal ensemble and the church’s unique architectural structure to create a total experience.

Her report of this Ethereal Kingdoms church concert in Nordica LIVE Magazine reads as follows:

“(…) You could feel the excitement amongst people as we were queuing to enter the church, where Ethereal Kingdoms played their concert”

“The mixed audience could be characterized as “grey gold” and “black metal””

“(…) We were seated around the drum set in the middle of the church-room (…) The quartet and the band entered the room to beautiful tones of a-capella and concert flute (…)

The sound in the church was special and different. The sound of the drums seemed natural and real. Sofia‘s growl seemed frighteningly powerful in the contrast to the church’s beautiful architecture. (…) That woman can growl you into an nightmarish entrancement. and she can sing soprano-notes, that makes you fly in the summer rain. “

“The entire room was used by the band and choir as a stage”

Portraits by Tankepine /Doomed Images for Nordica LIVE Magazine

Best European Metal Bands features Ethereal Kingdoms

Ethereal Kingdoms Heartchamber featured in best european metal bands compilation by European Metal Channel

Spanish-based European Metal Channel featured Ethereal Kingdoms very first single and music video “Heartchamber” in their 145th “Best European Metal Bands” compilation.

Focusing on releases from October 2019, this song from Hollow Mirror made it onto their list. We are in good company with bands from all over the EU!

European Metal Channel has a collection of “Best European Metal Bands” for you to explore on their YouTube as well as on their website.

Watch or rediscover the story of Heartchamber – a beautiful bittersweet story of love and loss.



The song features award winning singer-songwriter Amalie Skriver on harmony vocals. The torn lovers in the story is portrayed by our lovely flute soloist Lærke Krarup and our good friend actor and athlete Magni Hansen.

We created the video with the joined forces of videographer Anders Mikkelsen (who also filmed this ‘Endings’ vocal playthrough video) and the brilliant editors at MindSpark Films:

Did you know that Sofia and Christian wrote the song for their participation in the finals of Wacken Metal Battle Denmark back in 2018?
The story is linked to the songs “Beginnings” and “Endings”, which you can find on ‘Hollow Mirror’
Those three songs and the characters portrayed herein are therefore the core actors in the ghost stories on our debut album.

Endings – Full vocal playthrough video

Ethereal Kingdoms Endings full vocal playthrough video out now on youtube

Earlier in November, we asked all of you which Ethereal Kingdoms song you would like to see a full vocal playthrough of.
You chose ‘Endings’, 5th song on Hollow Mirror.

Sofia and our video-genius friend Anders Groos Mikkelsen of Mikkelsen Photo, spent an evening creating this full vocal playthrough video:

The video was created in our newly re-decorated rehearsal room, which we share with our good friends and label-mates Vanir.
With three video lamps, two colored LED-bars, a dual-camera setup and some creative time in Final Cut Pro X, we created this clip for you.

Ethereal Kingdoms vocal playthrough of Endings from Hollow Mirror. Behind the scenes. Sofia Schmidt leaning agains microphone stand in rehearsal room.
Behind the scenes of Endings vocal playthrough video
Portrait by Mikkelsen-Photo


Sofia used the Shure SM7b vocal microphone for this recording, and all screams and growls for Hollow Mirror was actually recorded with this very setup.
Her clean vocals for the album was recorded in Wolf Rider Sound Productions studio. For this playtrhough though, everything is made on the SM7b, one of her absolute favorite pieces of equipment.

The studio version? It sounds like this, featuring The Kingdom Choir and an absolutely brilliant mix by Jakob Gundel of Gainfactory.
Watch or re-watch the stunning lyric video with artwork by Anna Holm brought to life by legendary Scott Rudd Films:

Which Ethereal Kingdoms vocal playthrough would you like to see next? Leave a comment or reach out to us on Facebook, Instagram or Youtube!

Ashes within – Ethereal Kingdoms video live

Enter the theatrical metal experience.
Ashes within, the opening song of this Ethereal Kingdoms live performance is now shared with the world.
A raw, personal and intense recording from our performance with Wintersun, Seven Thorns and Faanefjell in Roskilde, Denmark, 30th of August.

“I search for beauty. For within me there is none”
Unpredictable beauty.
Unexpected brutality.
Enter the theatrical metal experience with this Ethereal Kingdoms live clip.

Ethereal Kingdoms live at Wintersun support. Ashes within full live clip.
Levitation.
Sofia Schmidt and Jakob Holm of Ethereal Kingdoms
Portrait by Skoett Photography.


See upcoming show dates at the Show-section of our website or follow us on facebook, instagram and youtube for latest news from Ethereal Kingdoms.

Others who have entered the theatrical metal experience say the following:

“I witnessed something unique”
9 of 10 stars – Heavymetal.dk

“A show of the grandiose kind” –
4 of 5 stars – Metal A Day

“New pages in the history of this genre” – Heavymetal.it

“This band has a story to tell”
8 of 10 – Powerofmetal.dk

Explore our press archive

New single ‘Distance’

Ethereal Kingdoms Hollow Mirror Distance 01 Mighty Music Ethereal Kingdoms lyrics
Cover created by the incredible illustrator Anna Holm

Distance.
A story of breaking the unbreakable.

Listen now on your favourite streaming service and pre-add our ‘Hollow Mirror’ album for free.

Distance – 3rd single from critically acclaimed debut album ‘Hollow Mirror’
Mighty Music 2019

Distance is the first track on our debut album ‘Hollow Mirror’
Various media have shared their thoughts about this collection of stories:
‘A perfect balance of brightness and darkness’ – Metal Temple
‘A complete range of voices’ – Musica.be
‘A very deserving debut’ – Arrow Lords of Metal

‘A show of the grandiose kind’ – Copenhagen Metal Fest live review

Ethereal Kingdoms live

Our intimate Copenhagen Metal Fest show gets ★★★★☆ from Metal-A-Day in this live review!

We were invited for the very first installment of Copenhagen Metal Fest. A festival celebrating danish metal culture and Heavymetal.dk‘s 20th anniversary on three renowned stages: Amager Bio, Beta2300 and Teater ZeBu.

Ethereal Kingdoms live at Copenhagen Metal Fest. Vocalist Sofia Schmidt with bloody special effect. By Mikkelsen Photo for Metal A Day.

We’ve played both of the first stages at Nordic Noise and Dirty Days of Summer Festival, but we had yet to unleash our theatrical metal universe at at true, real theatre stage.
We got this opportunity when we were offered a slot at 21st of September 2019 at Teater ZeBu stage.

The reporter Anders Lundtang witnessed our performance, which included our new single ‘Distance‘:

“(…) you feel like you’re witnessing a show of the grandiose kind!”
“Not two of their shows are alike (…)”
“(…) you cannot be anything but impressed (…)”

-Anders Lundtang, Metal A Day

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Explore other live reviews of Ethereal Kingdoms in our reviews section, where you can also find album reviews and more.

Outstanding portraits created by Anders Mikkelsen // Mikkelsen-Photo

Ethereal Kingdoms live at Copenhagen Metal Fest. Vocalist Sofia Schmidt. By Mikkelsen Photo for Metal A Day.
Ethereal Kingdoms live at Copenhagen Metal Fest. Vocalist Sofia Schmidt in stagelight. By Mikkelsen Photo for Metal A Day.

Our next show will be a special acoustic performance with unique guests.
🔸 11th of October – Ethereal Kingdoms “Hollow Mirror” Release Fest + Koncert – Acoustic special show  at Zeppelin Rock Bar