Taake

TAAKE is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen, Norway formed in 1993 and originally named Thule.

The band’s one continuous member is Hoest, who writes and records most of the music.

The band describes itself as “True Norwegian black metal”, and Hoest said that he wants to “awaken national pride and cultural nostalgia in my Norwegian listeners” as well as to remind people “that Hell is right here on Earth and that humans can be demons”.

All lyrics are in Hoest‘s native dialect and are printed in Norse runes. “TAAKE” is the old spelling of the Norwegian word “tåke”, meaning “fog”.

In 1993, Ørjan Stedjeberg (then known as ‘Ulvhedin‘), formed the first version of the band TAAKE under the name Thule, together with drummer ‘Svartulv‘. Thule released two demos “Der vinterstormene raste” in 1993 and “Omfavnet av svarte vinger” in 1994.

Shortly after, the band changed its name to TAAKE and ‘Ulvhedin’ adopted the new pseudonym ‘Hoest‘ (meaning “autumn” or “harvest”).

In 1995, the released the demo “Manndaudsvinter” in 1995. This was followed in 1996 by a 7″ EP called “Koldbrann i jesu marg“.

Between 1999 and 2005, TAAKE released three full-length albums. They are a trilogy of concept albums linked by the topics of “death, Norway, and the devil in man”.

The first full-length album, “Nattestid ser porten vid“, was released by Wounded Love Records in 1999. The album was written entirely by Hoest, but he brought in a session musician, ‘Tundra‘, to perform bass guitar and drums. It was recorded throughout 1997 and 1998 at the Grieg Hall.

The second installment of the trilogy, “Over bjoergvin graater himmerik“, was released in 2002 by Wounded Love Records. On this record, Hoest surrounded himself with a band: second guitarist ‘C. Corax‘, bassist and pianist ‘Keridwen‘, and drummer ‘Mutt‘ (Gaahlskagg, Trelldom, Sigfader).

The final installment of the trilogy, “Hordalands doedskvad“, was released in 2005 by Dark Essence Records. It features second guitarist ‘C. Corax‘, bassist ‘Lava‘ and drummer ‘Mord‘. It also features several guest vocalists, including ‘Nattefrost‘ (Carpathian Forest), ‘Nordavind‘ (Carpathian Forest) and ‘Taipan‘ (Orcustus).

Over the following three years, TAAKE released four short EPs and played a few festivals (most notably the Hole in the Sky Festival in Norway, with Ivar Bjørnson of Enslaved on guitar), but according to Hoest, TAAKE was “on ice for a while”.

Before the 2006–2007 European tour, TAAKE revamped their official homepage. Following the infamous March 2007 show in Essen, the band were removed from several festivals and received much backlash.

At the same time, Lava, who had been bass guitarist since 2002, left the band. He was replaced by ‘V´Gandr’ (vocalist and bassist of the Norwegian metal band HELHEIM) as live bassist. The other live members of the band consisted of: ‘Aindiachaí’ (guitar), ‘Gjermund’ (guitar) and ‘Thurzur’ (drums).

In 2008, a fourth album was released, recorded entirely by Hoest and simply named “TAAKE“. The album was recorded for Hoest‘s own label Svartekunst Produksjoner, and was distributed via Dark Essence Records.

In 2011, TAAKE released the EP “Kveld”, featuring both new and re-recorded songs.

This was followed shortly after by their fifth full-length album, “Noregs vaapen“. Hoest collaborated with many prominent Norwegian black metallers for this record including Attila Csihar, Nocturno Culto, Demonaz and Ivar Bjørnson. It was again released on his own label Svartekunst Produksjoner to much critical acclaim. The album was nominated for the prestigious Spellemann award in Norway for top metal release. This nomination was met with some derision due to anti-Islamic lyrics.

To mark the band’s 20th anniversary, TAAKE released the compilation album “Gravkamre, kroner og troner” in 2013. When the live drummer ‘Thurzur’ left the band, he was replaced by ‘Brodd’.

In 2014, the sixth full-length album “Stridens hus” and the EP “Kulde” were released through Dark Essence Records.

Their latest effort was named “Kong Vinter” and was released in 2017.