Shortly after announcing the formation of their new band, The 3rd Attempt, earlier this year and their departure from Carpathian Forest, guitarists Tchort (Green Carnation, ex-Carpathian Forest, ex-Emperor, ex-Blood Red Throne) and BloodPervertor (ex-Carpathian Forest, Apostasy, ex-Neongod) went on to announce that they were holding online auditions for the position of vocalist for the new project. As was to be expected when guitarists who had played with some of the biggest, and most iconic Norwegian bands advertised for a frontman, the resulting flood of applications was sizeable, so much so, in fact, that it has taken 4 months to listen to all the auditions and come to a decision.

Commenting on the process Tchort said: "We were blown away, not only by the quantity of submissions we received, but also by the quality. Those sending in auditions were given the option of making them public or keeping them private, so what you saw posted on the band's Facebook page was only the tip of the iceberg of what we had to assess. It took us a long time because we felt that everyone who sent in their demos deserved all the attention we could give them, and we would like to thank all the extraordinarily talented musicians who took part. It was a difficult choice but in the end we opted for former Midnattsvrede and Necrocave vocalist Kaahrl Ødemark because his delivery and attitude were very much in keeping with what we had in mind for The 3rd Attempt. We have put together a demo of a track with Kaahrl on vocals as a way of introducing him to everyone. The track, "The Beast Within", which also features Carpathian Forest's Daniel Vrangsinn on bass and Anders Kobro on drums, can be heard (below)."

Oslo-based Ødemark had this to say about auditioning: "The funny thing is that at first I wasn't even going to try because I honestly thought that it was just some sort of PR exercise, but in the end I decided to contact the band's manager and ask if it was real, and she confirmed that it was absolutely legit. So I picked up my microphone, my DAW and a pen and started working on those two demo-tracks 24/7 for a couple of days. I didn't really have any expectations but I just did my best and before I knew it I was talking to Tchort and BloodPervertor themselves, who asked to hear two full songs. When they told me I'd been chosen as The 3rd Attempt's frontman it was hard to sound professional with my brain was screaming 'Fucking hell, I'm going to be the vocalist for two musicians I've worshipped since I was a teenager'. Strangely this will be my third band, so you could also say that this will be my 3rd attempt too!"

 

 

Not surprisingly the decision taken by the Tchort and BloodPervertor to leave Carpathian Forest has raised a fair few questions, but Tchort is quick to put paid to any kind of negative speculation. "People tell me all the time how hard it is to establish a new band these days, and there is no doubt that this is true, but for me it's not about "making it", it's more about having the right environment for my creativity, and that "hunger" to tread a new path and push boundaries. To be honest I felt that I was no longer giving my best to Carpathian Forest. It had started to become routine, and things had stopped being inspiring, so that writing new material was becoming harder. There were probably various reasons involved, but in the end I felt it would be better for Carpathian Forest if they injected some new blood into their ranks, someone who had the energy and inspiration that I was beginning to lack. Someone who could push them further. I didn't want to be the one to hold them back because I couldn't give them 100% of myself.

"At the same time I had reached the point where I myself was in need that same inspiration and drive in order to regain my focus. When we held the online vocalist auditions, there were two contributions in particular that grabbed my attention and I found myself rewinding the songs and listening to them again and again. The talent and effort they demonstrated really got my creativity going and that was just what I was looking for. One thing both BloodPervertor and I were sure about was that we wanted to continue the interplay we had developed over the years in Carpathian Forest, so we made our choice and with a new vocalist onboard we are now hard at work on new material and have already started booking live shows, so we are definitely hitting the ground running. I think it's fair to say that the passion is slowly growing within us again and we are looking forward to meeting old and new fans again soon."

 

 

The 3rd Attempt's first live appearance will be on February 18th at Blastfest in Bergen, Norway.