Glamdring was formed in 2006 by guitarist and vocalist Tor Magnus.  It was started as a solo project with no real desire for it to become a publicly active performing band. While still a one man project, the first EP was recorded entitled "Lucifer’s Tomb”.   After Tor became the vocalist for a local band named Legions of Acheron, he met up with drummer, Doomspel, in hopes of recording some new material with him.  This sparked the creation of the album "[Til] Death Do Us Part”.  Shortly after this achievement, Doomspel’s brother, Ivegion, joined the band as guitarist.  Accompanying guitarists floated in an out at various times.  Viskarith joined the band as bassist and Tor assumed the part of vocalist, lending his guitar work to the recordings and leaving the live performance thereof to Ivegion. Soon after, Glamdring was supported by Erlosung Distro and Unblack Metal Scene, while Starve the Flesh helped them with merchandise. Now, in the year 2010, Glamdring still stands as a tribute to classic black metal, though Tor still defines the genre as "unblack” due to his personal path as a disciple of Christ.  Whereas most would assume Glamdring’s material to be watered down and "pious”, the truth is that Tor uses the music to stress to the world the gravity of their actions and the judgement that will be faced in consequence.  While still lending a positive message for those who seek righteousness, there is a significant amount of ominous warnings that stem from the book of Revelation and the apocalypse, which is what would give Glamdring’s music a ‘blackened’ element.

Glamdring’s music is a mixture of classic black metal with elements of progressive metal thrown into the mix.  We have been greatly influenced by the Norwegian band Extol, whose technical death metal and progressive tones have spurred the desire in Tor Magnus to start this band altogether.  Our influences include Mayhem, Emperor, Immortal, Burzum, Darkthrone, Extol, Antestor, Mantric, Satyricon, Gorgoroth, Enslaved, Elgibbor, Bathory, Craft … the list goes on.  I speak for myself [Tor]. As far as my bandmates are concerned, they listen to a lot of Dying Fetus, Morbid Angel, and Cannibal Corpse. Mostly, they are influence by the aforementioned bands…plus these.

Well, I’ve been told by friends and fans that Glamdring has a very distinct sound to it that separates it from a lot of other material.  There is quite a change in the sound from the the EP [Lucifer’s Tomb] to the full length Death Do Us Part. Even our upcoming album, As The World Decays, will sound somewhat different from the last.  This is what keeps us on our toes, always seeking to improve and give our listeners something new.  We’re very fond of the idea of keeping the music as devoted to the genre as possible, but we will never dismiss the great possibility that metalheads need a change every once in a while to keep them intrigued and wanting to hear what the next album will bring.  New material is continuously popping into our heads and we try to use that to convey the appropriate emotions to the listener.  I guess that’s the main reason why you should buy the album that we have out – we are always true to our music and don’t let mainstream music or fads dictate our sound and our emotion. 

Well, we’ve had one REAL public release through Unblack Metal Scene and Erlosung Distro, which is Death Do Us Part.  It was our first album, recorded by Tor who established the private label of Permafrost Records. The material was received well by many, though most still prefer to torrent for music, which is why we make an mp3 download available through Erlosung.  Together with them, Unblack Metal Scene and Starve the Flesh, we have really been blessed.  I still have the joy and the fun of recording our material, while these companies all help out tremendously and have all been extremely wonderful to work with, so we will definitely continue to do business with them for quite some time.  (We also hope to be a part of Pest Webzine from now on.  Thanks guys for offering us some free promotion on the spot. It is greatly appreciated!)

We have played a couple shows so far, but we are still fairly new.  Hopefully a series of house shows will be coming up soon as well as one that I have been organizing at the Opera House in Sumter, SC.  Dates for those will be posted on our myspace shortly and hopefully more shows will become available this next four months. 

Usually I wouldn’t know how to go about answering this question haha. But I do believe I have the privilege of working with one of the best drummers in South Carolina, for sure!  Doomspel is simply amazing and his biggest influences are Hellhammer from Mayhem (who personally autographed his snare drum!), Derek Roddy (whose signature is on there too, btw.), George Kollias of Nile, Frost of Satyricon and 1349, Kvitrafn (Einar Selvik) formerly of Gorgoroth / Jotunspor / Wardruna.  The drums are just an extremely important part to me, I guess since I’m a growing learner at extreme metal drumming myself.  It was Doomspel and I who started this band and it is our sound and our ideas that you hear coming out of your speakers.  Coming from a relatively small city in South Carolina, we offer a break from the usual hardcore and indie scene around Columbia.  I see great things happening with this band.  It may take some time, but I’m more than willing to wait and simply improve my skill each day.  Music just means THAT much to me. 

Well, as stated, there are a few shows in the works for now.  We have our second album coming soon and it will be put out through Unblack Metal Scene and Erlosung.  We’ve had a great deal of distros interested in our music.  Some examples of these are Eirene Records (Mexico), Extreme Records (Brazil), Oriffs (France), Nordic Mission (Norway), and Shaver Records (US? I think).  Our plans are simple: get the word out there, get known and have fun doing it!

Our myspace is the best place to get a glimpse of our music: www.myspace.com/oktoberlys 

Our first album Death Do Us Part can be found at Unblack Metal Scene www.unblackmetalscene.bigcartel.com or at Erlosung Distro for an mp3 download www.erlosung.com

We have t-shirts and hoodies for sale at Starve the Flesh www.starvetheflesh.com 

We hope you enjoy our material and we will do much much more to give you the real metal that you deserve!

August 2010