THE KOVENANT has eight songs written for first studio album in more than 20 years
10-05-2026
In a new interview with Australia’s Everblack podcast, vocalist/bassist Stian “Nagash” Arnesen of THE KOVENANT spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band’s first studio album in more than 20 years. He said: “Well, this (THE KOVENANT reunion) was originally supposed to be just (for) a couple of festivals and that’s it. But we had so much fun and enjoyed playing together again. And we always had a good connection and stuff. And we also have two new members, two new guitarists, one from MAYHEM, one from ARCTURUS.
“So, yeah, we have about eight new songs ready,” he continued. “So two more and we have 10, and then we’re going to the studio hopefully by the end of this year. Yeah, there will be a new album.”
Regarding the musical direction of the new THE KOVENANT material, Nagash said: “(Laughs) Everyone asks that. I would say it’s a mix of all the albums, plus new stuff. That’s the best thing I can say for now. There’s some stuff that sounds kinda like (2003’s) ‘SETI’ mixed with (1998’s) ‘Nexus Polaris’, and then there’s other stuff that sounds something from the first album. There’s some ‘Animatronic’-type-ish (1999) songs. I guess you’ll have to wait and see and hear it. To me, it sounds more metal than it used to. But also I hope there’s gonna be parts where people go, like, ‘What the hell are you fucking guys doing now? What the hell is this?’ And then I’ll be, like, ‘Yeah, awesome. That’s good.'”
THE KOVENANT returned to the live stage in December 2024 at the Eindhoven Metal Meeting festival in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
At some of its recent shows, THE KOVENANT, which won a Norwegian Grammy equivalent, called Spellemannsprisen, in 1999 in the category of “Best Hard Rock Album” for the “Nexus Polaris” LP, performed that effort in its entirety, along with tracks from “Animatronic”, plus classics from THE KOVENANT‘s debut album, “In Times Before The Light”.
While the band faces challenges with the absence of founding member Psy Coma due to health issues, the aforementioned Knut Magne Valle from the legendary band ARCTURUS has stepped in to ensure that the magic continues to flow seamlessly.
THE KOVENANT was formed in 1993 under the name COVENANT by two black metal artists known as Nagash (Stian Arnesen) and Blackheart (Amund Svensson),who released the debut album, “In Times Before The Light” (1997). The band signed with the German record company Nuclear Blast in 1998 and recruited four other members to form an actual band: Astennu (of DIMMU BORGIR, CARPE TENEBRUM),Sverd (of ARCTURUS),Sarah Jezebel Deva (of CRADLE OF FILTH and others) and Hellhammer (of MAYHEM and others). With these new recruits, they released their second album, “Nexus Polaris”, which was hugely successful and is largely considered their best album to date by fans.
Following a dispute with a Swedish electronic band of the same name, in 1999 COVENANT changed its name to THE KOVENANT. The name change also signaled a musical shift into an industrial metal-influenced sound.