1349

1349 is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1997. The band’s name comes from the year the Black Death reached Norway.

1349 formed in 1997 and comprises several former members of the band Alvheim. Drummer Frost is also a member of Satyricon.

In recognition of 1349’s influences, the band performed a cover of Mayhem‘s “Buried by Time and Dust” on their debut album, Liberation. At 1349’s live shows, the band has also covered Celtic Frost, whom vocalist Ravn cites as his principal influence.

1349 tours on a regular basis. The band’s live shows often begin with Frost and guitarist Archaon breathing fire. In 2006, 1349 toured the US with Celtic Frost. Ravn also appeared on the Celtic Frost album Monotheist (2006), performing guest vocals on the CD digipack bonus track, “Temple of Depression“. In 2007, during the French Hellfest festival, 1349 was slated to play during the day, but asked to reschedule their appearance to play in the dark instead. During 1349’s appearance at the Oslo Inferno Metal Festival in March 2008, the band was joined on stage by Celtic Frost frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer for a rendition of the Celtic Frost song “The Usurper“. In September 2008, 1349 toured with Carcass, Suffocation, Aborted and Rotten Sound on the Exhume to Consume Tour.

A music video for “Sculptor of Flesh” was released following the release of Hellfire (2005). The video, directed by Judd Tilyard, alternates between footage of the band performing the song in Norway and clips of surgery filmed in Australia.

During late 2008, 1349 recorded its fourth album, Revelations of the Black Flame. The album was co-mixed by Tom Gabriel Fischer, and was released in Europe on 25 May 2009. Revelations of the Black Flame marked a change in direction for the band, as songs on the album were slower than previous releases, and there were also some dark ambient and industrial-tinged tracks.

At the beginning of 2010, the band signed a contract with Indie Recordings for the release of its fifth album in Europe, with Prosthetic Records distributing the album in North America. 1349 released their fifth album, Demonoir, on 26 April 2010. The album shows a return to 1349’s earlier sound, before Revelations of the Black Flame, while continuing the low-fi production and ambient sensibilities of Revelations.

1349 toured with Cannibal Corpse, Skeletonwitch, and Lecherous Nocturne on the Evisceration Plague Tour, in April–May 2010. The band also performed at the Wacken Open Air and Summer Breeze Open Air festivals in August 2010.

1349 toured Canada and the United States with Tom Gabriel Fischer’s project Triptykon in October 2010. A deluxe box set of Demonoir was released in October 2011. The band’s first live DVD, titled Hellvetia Fire – The Official 1349 Bootleg, was released on 24 October 2011 by Candlelight Records. It was filmed at Bikini Test La Chaux De Fonds in Switzerland in 2005.

In October 2013, the band began recording their sixth studio album, called Massive Cauldron of Chaos. On 10 December, the band announced that the record was finished, and it was released on 29 September 2014, via Indie Recordings. The album scored excellent reviews and was nominated for a Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannprisen). Festival shows and extensive touring followed the album’s release, and brought 1349 all the way to Australia and New Zealand for the first time.

In February 2017, it was announced that 1349 signed to Season of Mist.

In 2018, the Munch Museum and Innovation Norway chose 1349 as one of four bands to create a song based on the paintings of Edvard Munch. As a result, the single ‘Dødskamp‘ was released earlier that year.

After performing a fiery show at Norway’s Inferno festival this year, 1349 started recording in Amper Tone studios and Studio Nyhagen with engineer Jarrett Pritchard. Thus, ‘The Infernal Pathway’ was born, a sonic parallel to summoning and unleashing the beast of the abyss in all its fearsome, ferocious and powerful splendor. Season of Mist unleashed the album on October 18, 2019.

Gearing up for a full U.S. tour in the fall, and a European tour with ABBATH and VLTIMAS in 2020, more events will unfold, making this a banner year for 1349.