The theatrical metal experience
MIGHTY MUSIC PRESENTS: ETHEREAL KINGDOMS + WAYWARD DAWN + CHRONICLE
Venue: Byhaven, Pumpehuset
Date:
Price: FREE
Due to COVID-19 guidelines from the Danish Governement, this will be a seated concert. 250 seats available.
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.
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.
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.
With some editing magic, Sofia brought it all together at her little workspace-corner in our rehearsal room.
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.
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:
ETHEREAL KINGDOMS LIVE AT FORBRÆNDINGEN
9th of October 2020
By HEAVYMETAL.DK and FORBRÆNDINGEN
Vognporten 11
2620 Albertslund
Lineup
XAON (CH)
SUNLESS DAWN (DK)
ETHEREAL KINGDOMS (DK)
LAMENTARI (DK)
Doors: 18.00
Swiss progressive death metal mastodons XAON return to Denmark for a night of wonder, magic and complexity at FORBRÆNDINGEN in Albertslund, Copenhagen.
In the company of WACKEN METAL BATTLE DENMARK 2015 winners SUNLESS DAWN, we bring our finest songs to this show.
We will also have a special collaboration between Sunless Dawn and Ethereal Kingdoms at this performance.
New symphonic black metal band LAMENTARI joins this show, unleashing their critically acclaimed debut EP f live this night.
XAON’s 2019 album SOLIPSIS made it onto our “Sounds of the Kingdoms” Spotify playlist, a handpicked selection of songs that inspire, delight and fascinate us. Vocalist Sofia especially is a big fan of this band.
In celebration of the release of our debut album Hollow Mirror
We have created a special night full of strange wonder and beauty
We play a one-of-a kind acoustic set with special guests
Enjoy the band’s signature ‘Sovereign’ drink
Contests, surprises and more!
You are invited
Hollow Mirror release concert
11th of October 2019
Doors: 19.30
Showtime: 20.15
DJ’s, special surprises and more!
Venue:
Zeppelin Rock Bar, Vesterbrogade 45, Copenhagen
For this show, we will be joined by flute soloist Lærke Leth, viola soloist Hansi Andersen and The Kingdom Choir in a bit of a different configuration. This night, they will consist of Victoria Omberg, Oliver Svensson and Mads ‘Arpeggio’ Sørensen. All of these artists except Victoria took part in creating Hollow Mirror, so this will be a very special moment for us to unleash the strange beauty in an intimate acoustic setting.
Hollow Mirror has already enchanted reviewers and metal journalists across the world:
10 of 10 – “You’re in for an experience!” – Metalized
6 of 6 – “Beauty interrupted by brutality” – Calle’s Rock Corner
8 of 10 – “A perfect balance of brightness and darkness” – Metal Temple
4 of 5 – “Almost near perfection” – Metal A Day
82 of 100 – “A complete range of voices” – Musica.be
12 of 15 – Legacy Magazine
82 /100 – Fireworks Magazine
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.
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!”
-Anders Lundtang, Metal A Day
“Not two of their shows are alike (…)”
“(…) you cannot be anything but impressed (…)”
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
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
Our Nordic Noise 2019 special show gets ★★★★★★★★☆☆ from powerofmetal.dk!
We had the honor of playing at the big stage of Amager Bio for the 2019 installment of Nordic Noise Festival. We were in the grand company of Candlemass, Tygers of Pan Tang and other great acts during the two lovely spring days in May.
For this show, we celebrated the release of our first single Heartchamber.
We wanted to make something magical, so we brought special guest violinist Amalie Skriver and The Kingdom Choir along to our show, as well as some special effects.
Journalist Mia Hall of Danish webzine powerofmetal.dk witnessed this performance.
These are excerpts of her thoughts:
“The way this singer sings is rarely heard. Her opera voice, screams and growling shows some real technicality to her singing, and it is almost as if she has different masks she puts on. Very impressive!”
Mia Hall, Powerofmetal.dk
“I can tell that this band has a story to tell, as the singer is very active on stage, both dancng around like a fairy and then jumping around, growling and breaking things on stage. The choir and fiddle also helps to get the atmosphere in that right kind of mood, as symphonic power metal can give. And the harmonies sound GREAT!”
“No matter what they do, it can not be less intense than what they performed this evening.”
Thank you so much powerofmetal.dk!
GAFFA and Metal A Day was also present at this performance.
Want to hear more impressions of our shows?
Check out the reviews section for album and live reviews!
GAFFA awarded ★★★★☆☆ stars for Ethereal Kingdoms special guest show at Nordic Noise Festival 2019 in Amager Bio.
Nordic Noise Festival – the rock and metal herald of the Copenhagen spring since 2013. This year, for the first time in Amager Bio, Ethereal Kingdoms were invited to join this historic stage. We were in the grand company of legendary Candlemass, The Night Flight Orchestra and more on the 11th of May 2019.
In celebration of our new single Heartchamber, we created a special event with guest violinist Amalie Skriver and The Kingdom Choir – three singers of Roskilde Cathedral.
Journalist Keld Broksø of GAFFA was present at our performance and shared the following thoughts:
“People (…) have heard something akin to this with Nightwish and Within Temptation and Ethereal Kingdoms is well on their way to their league”
“Ambitions are sky high with an efficient and talented metal band behind the vocalist”
“(…) I felt that something big is on its way with a new album this year.”
Thank you so much Gaffa!
4,5 out of 5 stars for Ethereal Kingdoms special theatrical show at Royal Metal Fest 2019
Royal Metal Fest 2019 was a very special show for Ethereal Kingdoms.
Supported by a special grant from Metal Royale foundation, DMF and DAF, we created our very first installment of out theatrical special show format. Employing two dancers and premiering The Kingdom Choir, we told many of the stories of Hollow Mirror for the very first time at the Radar stage, 6th of April 2019. With the use of video backdrops, special light show by Martin Rasmussen (MØL, Hatesphere, Copenhell and more) and lots of special effects, we brought our stories and songs to life in a new format.
Journalist Andreas Kielland was present and awarded us a grand 4,5 of 5 stars!
“There’s more attention to detail than what is found within several bigger acts in symphonic metal.”
Andreas Kielland, revolution-inc.dk
“The narrative is a chapter of its own. For the band’s theatrical, epic foundation does not only cover the form, but also the content”
“They are a refreshingly ambitious project”
“I would watch them live again, not only because I feel truly entertained but uplifted, inspired and hopeful on behalf on the group”
Thank you so very much Revolution Music!
Royal Metal Fest also reached out to us for an interview. We spoke to them before the show when we were in the heat of planing the performance and rehearsing it to perfection. You can find this interview and more in the interviews section here on our website.
Other metal media left this night with the following impressions:
9 of 10 stars – “I witnessed something unique” – Heavymetal.dk
4 of 5 stars – “Death, love and ghosts” – Metaltone.dk
Ethereal Kingdoms have been granted a very special time slot at Royal Metal Fest 2019. A unique opportunity to bring our theatrical metal visions to life. A space to experiment in the intersection between show and concert.
Each year, the Metal Royale Foundation, Dansk Musikerforbund and Dansk Artistforbund offer a grant for a band, that wants to do something extraordinary with their performance.
For 2019, we had the honor of being chosen – Showtime is 6th of April at 17.00 at the Radar venue at Royal Metal Fest.
Journalist Pernille Randrup reached out us to learn more.
We spoke about what’s happening behind the scenes, our ideas and concepts for the show and how to make ghosts come to live on stage.
“It’s not a concert, it’s not a musical, it’s not theatre. It’s something different where we think stage-oriented. A show”
“Ethereal Kingdoms is about experimenting in the intersection between show and concert. The balance between the grotesque and the beautiful. Contrasts, quick shifts, sudden flows.”
“We bring dancers to coporealize ghosts and (…) bring a choir to be a living part of the stage, to make everything more vivid – and it’s just nicer with live voices!”
“We’re experimenting with video backdrops and to assist in the lights we have Martin Lundholm, the light tech of MØL”
Article in Danish 🇩🇰
So how did the show play out?
Various media outlets witnessed our performance and shared their experiences here:
9 of 10 stars – “I witnessed something unique” – heavymetal.dk
4,5 of 5 stars – “Refreshingly ambitious” – Revolution Music4 of 5 stars – “Death, love and ghosts” – metaltone.dk
Explore other interviews and learn more about our theatrical metal universe
September 21st 2019 marked the night where we joined legendary Finntroll at the stage of Gimle, accompanied by Sylvatica and Vanir.
A special night for us all, as we prepared a few surprises by bringing violinist and singer Amalie Skriver along as special guest as well as premiering striking animated video backdrops by illustrator Anna Hom Sørensen.
Journalist Anders Lundtang of Metal A Day shared his impressions of our performance at the sold-out Roskilde venue:
“During their show this nighty, you could risk getting hit by flying pieces of a broken violin, which was smashed on stage. This only serves to underline the richness of detail in this orchestra”
Anders Lundtang, Metal A Day
“The vocal register of lead singer Sofia Schmidt is sure to impress. anyone who aspires to perform on stage”
“The symbiosis between band and audience was striking (…)”
Thank you so much Metal A Day!