Norway's VREID check in with the following update from bassist Hváll:

"This weekend we were gathered in the good old Fjøsen (our rehearsal place from the ULCUS and WINDIR days). It was a great atmosphere to rehearse there again, and especially with all the stuff we are working with at the moment, everything from new lineup, new album and the upcoming special shows.

New material: First of all we are working on the new material. Over the last 10 months I have been working on riffs and ideas for a new album. This has now ended up in 10 working tracks. Over the last few months Sture and Steingrim have been working together with me on the guitar and drum arrangements. This weekend was the first time we started playing the stuff together, and I have to admit that I am “over the moon” about how the songs are turning out. It is too early to describe what direction the album is taking, but for me the main thing is that the material sounds very fresh and that it fills us all with such enthusiasm.

We now have a few working sessions coming up before we start recording the drums. Sture and Strom will work closely together to develop the guitar arrangements, and I am confident that their work collaboration will bring our music to new heights.

Shows with special guest: Further more we have been rehearsing on a special live set.

We will do 3 selected shows this spring where we will be joined by a special guest for a few extra songs. The special guest is Vegard Bakken, brother of Terje Valfar Bakken. This will be full Vreid concerts plus that we will play a couple of Windir songs with Vegard doing the vocals on these songs.

This is something we have considered for quite some time. The loss of our brother and closest friend back in 2004 is something that has had a major impact on our lives, and is always affecting us both as persons and musicians. We have strong relationship with Vegard, and the music and spirit of Windir is something that unify us. We all grew up together and there is a bond between us, Vegard and Terje that never will be broken.

During the last 6 years we have done more than 200 shows around the world with Vreid, and met so many people with a passionate relationship to Vreid and Windir, this of course has inspired us a lot. So bringing Vegard in, and doing a few songs together is something we are sure will please a lot of people, but most importantly it is very satisfactory for ourselves. Rehearsing on these songs again this weekend just felt bloody great, and we do feel excited by incorporating a few Windir classics in our Vreid set for these shows."

Dates include:

April

29 - W2 - De Bosch, Netherlands
30 - Ragnarök Festival - Kreuth, Germany

May

1 - Fiesta Pagana - Schmerikon, Switzerland

More on Vreid at this location.