Green Carnation Announce First Part of Album Trilogy

No matter how long or where the journey has taken them, Green Carnation have always sought to climb the highest mountains. While founded by Emperor’s former bassist Tchort in the early ’90s, the Norwegians quickly amassed a cult following while blazing their own trail through fields of symphonic doom, hard rock, acoustic plucking and progressive metal.

Had they never returned from hiatus during the mid-2000s, the band would’ve been remembered for completing one of the most ambitious individual epics in metal’s vaunted archives. And yet, one mighty tale – or three, to be exact – continued to elude them. That is, until now. Two decades removed from its initial conception, Green Carnation have finally completed their masterpiece.

Today, the prog auters are announcing the first part of A Dark Poem, a grand and gloomy album trilogy that was inspired by Arthur Rimbaud’s dreamy ode to Shakespeare’s Ophelia. The Shores of Melancholia remains grounded in the band’s newfound heavy hooks, but though heavenly to the ears, lead single “In Your Paradise” is awash with doubt over our distorted view of the world.

“We are so excited to announce our long-awaited album trilogy”, Green Carnation says. “A Dark Poem promises to take listeners to the highest tops as well as their darkest inner rooms. Its opening chapter begins in a melancholic place that we have long associated with our music”.

Watch the video for “In Your Paradise” on the Season of Mist YouTube channel.

https://youtu.be/_FWGHgS6Wh8

A Dark Poem, Part I: The Shores of Melancholia comes out September 5, 2025.

Pre-order
https://orcd.co/greencarnationadarkpoem1

Pre-save on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/2o7sN7WqyIQDx96WvqtYUm?si=qoQVyW1ZR9e0cVH3FHPIIg

Green Carnation will premiere all of The Shores of Melancholia live for the first time later this year at ProgPower USA.

Though just the beginning of A Dark Poem, The Shores of Melancholia pulls a page from across Green Carnation’s storied 25-year discography. It’s darkest and stormiest track even claws back to their budding days in extreme metal thanks to a special appearance from Enslaved’s Grutle Kjellson. But the idea for an album trilogy stems from the band’s previous epic.

“Back in the early 2000, after the release of Light of Day, Day of Darkness, our fans were asking us if we planned on writing another one-hour piece”, remembers vocalist Kjetil Nordhus. “But we weren’t interested in doing that again. It was already done”. While he recently rejoined Green Carnation after stepping away from the band in 2022, it was founding member Tchort who first had the idea to pursue an album trilogy. “Since getting back together in 2016, we like to pursue things that are extremely ambitions” Nordhus continues. “The trilogy felt like it might be just out of our reach, which made us want to see if we could do it”.

If a through line can be drawn between the various points along their journey, it’s that Green Carnation have always challenged expectations. After pivoting to hard rock with The Quiet Offspring, the band stripped down for Acoustic Verses. But the first glimpse from The Shores of Melancholia picks up the prog heaviness that they discovered upon returning from hiatus with 2020’s Leaves of Yesteryear. Like the sails of a ship, “In Your Paradise” opens with majestic, billowing leads before chugging full steam ahead.

“It makes you want to bang your head a little”, Nordhus says with a pleased smile. His baritone booms loud and clear over the song’s heavy bass groove. But even though it positively soars amidst brightly streaking synths, the view of the world from “In Your Paradise” is a far cry from peaceful. Just as the video flashes haunting images from today’s headlines across our screen, on The Shores of Melancholia, Green Carnation are hounded by fearmongers. “The Babylon, apostasy, the judgement day is here“, belts Nordhus with masterful command over his piercing upper register. “It’s in your head“.

“It can drive you crazy”, he says in reference to the constant daily barrage of misinformation. “Our brains can’t take in everything that’s going on around us, so we kind of believe everything we hear, even though it’s not all true. The media know which words gather the most clicks”.

The doom and gloom that creeps over “In Your Paradise” spreads across all of The Shores of Melancholia. “The album reflects the troubled relationship between our personal lives and the external world”, Nordhus explains. “It’s about losing faith in the world we’ve come to know and how that leads to an inner dystopia”. Rising above the fray with the grace of a dove, Ingrid Ose’s clarion call of flute fades into the distance beneath the steady, pounding drums of war. “I think melancholia suits Green Carnation very well”.

On “In Your Paradise”, Green Carnation set sail on a grand and gloomy journey into an epic dark night of the soul.

The video for “In Your Paradise” was directed and edited by Rikard Amodei.

Additional video credits
Tor Sellevold Solbakken – Camera and color grading
Walter Cortes – Camera
Alexander De Senger – Grip
Stian Urdalen Jonson – Grip
Devin Michael Jonson – Grip
Bjornar Eidet Skutlaberg – Lights
Joakim Stien – Lights
Ruben Lervåg – Set sound
Lars Gunnar Liestøl – Still photos

Green Carnation would like to especially thank Cultiva and Kilden Performing Arts Centre, along with Mike Moen and the crew at LX Design

More praise for Green Carnation

As Silence Took You (7:12) In Your Paradise (7:04) Me My Enemy (7:17) The Slave That You Are (Featuring Grutle Kjellson of Enslaved) (6:16) The Shores of Melancholia (5:38) Too Close to the Flame (9:16)