Green Carnation Announce Part II of A Dark Poem

Green Carnation have never been afraid of a challenge. Just last year, the Norwegian captains of progressive metal finally set sail on an epic three-part voyage that had eluded them for more than thirty years. The Shores of Melancholia washed onto year-end lists at PROG, Loudwire, Angry Metal Guy and other major publications. Now, after reaching crushing new highs during its opening chapter, the band are descending into deeper, darker and more personal depths with Part II of A Dark Poem.

Today, Green Carnation are announcing A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis by premiering the stirring new music video for the first part of its booming and bloodstained title track with Metal Injection. “Sanguis” fights to stay afloat amidst familial wreckage with clear conviction and a flawless chorus. Though whether those traumas stay buried won’t be revealed until the album comes out, when fans can hear the full nine-minute version of this song in all its grand gloom and doom.

“We wanted A Dark Poem to start off with guns blazing”, Green Carnation vocalist Kjetil Nordhus says in reference to Part I. “But for Part II, we have some very personal stories that we want people to hear. Sanguis invites listeners into our darkest inner rooms with some of the most raw and vulnerable songs that we’ve ever written”.

“A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis hold some of the most personal lyrics that I’ve ever written”, says Stein Roger Sordal, the band’s bassist and primary lyricist. “The lyrics are so personal that I had to go many rounds with myself over whether or not to tone them down. In the end, I chose to keep them as honest as possible”.

Watch the video for “Sanguis (Blood Ties)” on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.

GREEN CARNATION Premiere "Sanguis" Video From A Dark Poem, Part II

A Dark Poem, Part II: Sanguis comes out April 3 on Season of Mist

Pre-order

https://orcd.co/greencarnationsanguis

Pre-save on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/7pUfKrzW4Q5vn0WAfPHCkS?si=uDZLcOH5Rh2-j8BcS956-g

Available Formats

CD Digipack

12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Black)

12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Yellow and Red Marbled)​

12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Orange and ​Coke Bottle Green)

12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Gold Splatters)

12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Silver, White and Black Marbled)

12″ Vinyl Gatefold (Transparent Green and Purple Marbled)

If Green Carnation set sail from a familiar place of melancholy on The Shores of Melancholia, then Sanguis finds the veteran prog metal crew far out at sea, fighting to stay afloat against the storm that’s raging in their mind’s eye. “A house, not a home, a heart made of stone, I survived you”. While founded by current guitarist and former Emperor bassist Tchort in the early ‘90s, since A Blessing In Disguise, the band’s bleeding heart has been held in the pen of bassist Stein Roger Sordal. As with the bulk of Part I, Sordal wrote all the lyrics to Part II. However, whereas previous album opener “As Silence Took You” only scratched at the trauma on the surface, “Sanguis” plunges into the emotional undercurrents raging below.

“This song paints a pretty grim picture of my childhood”, Sordal says. “I do have great memories from that time, too, but parts were very dark. I had some tough issues with my father, but I now know that he had it worse. I didn’t think about that when I was younger, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that there is usually more to the story”.

“It took Stein Roger almost 50 years to understand why his father treated him the way he did”, Nordhus says about his dear bandmate. “He didn’t understand until he had kids of his own and was watching them grow up”.

With its unforgettable chorus, “Sanguis” vows to wash away the stains of the past. “Father, I do realize that the cards you were given destroyed you”. Swells of piping hot organ and a hopeful glimmer of keys from Green Carnation’s long-time producer and newest member Endre Kirkesola mend those old bloodied wounds. But even pulse-pounding drummer Jonathan Pérez can’t keep the ghosts at bay forever. Bjørn Harstad’s triumphant guitar solo waxes then wanes into a long and lonely riff that looms like a shadow. While the final part of the song can’t come soon enough, it’s clear by the way Nordhus solemnly swears that dark clouds await up ahead. “In the light of life, I will not follow you”.

Part II introduces more peaks and valleys into the trilogy’s overarching narrative. But if A Dark Poem contains a silver lining, it’s in the creative partnership that’s helped Green Carnation endure for more than three decades. “It would be different if I had only known Stein Roger for two months, but I know everything that has happened in his life for the last 30 years”, Nordhus says when explaining how he gives voice to the words of his lifelong friend. “It’s easy for me to understand and relate to all of his struggles, all of his pleasures and joys, because I’ve been a part of them as well”.

The video for “Sanguis” (Blood Ties)” was directed and edited by Rikard Amodei.

Additional video credits

Camera – Jonas C.E. Kiplesund

Lighting – Joakim Stien

Set sound – Ruben Lervåg

Photography – Lars Gunnar Liestol

Child actor – Julian Hansen Flemmen

Special thanks to Kilden teater og konserthus and Cultiva

Sanguis (9:05) Loneliness Untold, Loneliness Unfold (4:04) Sweet to the Point of Bitter (5:58) I Am Time (5:39) Fire in Ice (7:03) Lunar Tale (5:25)