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“Wales and its legends are to be celebrated”: Mystery project Ysbrydnos is putting The Land Of Song on the black metal map
Ysbrydnos, an anonymous Welsh black metal project, is using its latest album Welsh Mythical Darkness to foreground Wales, its landscape and its legends within a genre strongly associated with Nordic settings. Its creator, Ysbryd, presents the record as a declaration of cultural celebration and a means of forging personal connections with Welsh places and stories.
The album revisits locations significant to Ysbryd, including Twmbarlwm in Risca and Carmarthen, blending their histories with fictional versions. The project draws inspiration from visionary writers including Alan Moore and the late Welsh supernatural author Arthur Machen, while its territorial ambition is compared with landmark Norwegian black metal albums by Darkthrone and Immortal.
In short
- Ysbrydnos uses black metal to celebrate Welsh myths and landscapes.
- Welsh Mythical Darkness links real places with fictionalised histories.
- The project draws on Welsh supernatural and visionary literature.
Explained simply
Black metal is a form of heavy metal music originating in Scandinavia, known for its distinctive distorted sound and themes exploring darkness, nature and mythology. The genre has historically been dominated by Scandinavian bands drawing on Nordic mythology and landscapes, making Welsh cultural themes uncommon in black metal.
Ysbrydnos is an anonymous Welsh music project that uses black metal to celebrate Welsh culture, landscape and legends. The project's creator Ysbryd released the album Welsh Mythical Darkness with the aim of bringing Welsh identity and mythology into a genre traditionally associated with Northern European perspectives.
The album draws on real Welsh locations such as Twmbarlwm in Risca and Carmarthen, blending their histories with fictional storytelling inspired by writers including Alan Moore and late Welsh author Arthur Machen. The project aims to establish Welsh themes in black metal as Norwegian bands have long done with Scandinavian mythology and landscape.
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