True North (Borknagar album)

True North
Studio album by Borknagar
Released	27 September 2019 (2019-09-27) [1]
Recorded	December 2018 – March 2019
Studio	Strand Studio (Oslo), Crosound Studio (Bergen), Mezzanine Studio [2]
Genre	Progressive metal, black metal, folk metal
Length	59:11
Label	Century Media
Producer	Borknagar
Borknagar chronology
Winter Thrice (2016) True North (2019) Fall (2024)

True North is the eleventh studio album by Norwegian progressive metal band Borknagar. It was released on 27 September 2019 by Century Media Records. It is their first album without Andreas Hedlund since Quintessence .

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Metal Hammer Germany	[3]
Rock Hard	8.5/10 [4]

Loudwire named it one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019. ^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Thunderous"	Lars Nedland, Øystein G. Brun	Brun	8:34
2.	"Up North"	ICS Vortex	ICS Vortex	6:29
3.	"The Fire That Burns"	Nedland, Brun	Brun	6:38
4.	"Lights"	Nedland	Nedland	5:04
5.	"Wild Father's Heart"	Nedland, Brun	Brun	5:42
6.	"Mount Rapture"	Nedland, Brun	Brun	6:08
7.	"Into the White"	Nedland	Nedland	5:57
8.	"Tidal"	Nedland, Brun	Brun	9:32
9.	"Voices"	Nedland	Nedland	5:07
Total length:				59:11

Limited edition digipak

No.	Title	Length
10.	"Wild Father's Heart" (instrumental demo)	6:25
11.	"Up North" (demo)	6:38
Total length:		72:14

Personnel

Borknagar ICS Vortex – bass, vocals, choirs Lars "Lazare" Nedland – keyboards, vocals, choirs Øystein G. Brun – guitar, additional photography; mixing and mastering (tracks 10 and 11) Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow – drums, percussion Jostein Thomassen – guitar Additional musicians John Ryan – violin and cello (tracks 1, 5, 9)

Production Jens Bogren – mixing (tracks 1–9), mastering Marius Strand – recording and engineering (drums) Artwork Thor Erik Dullum – photography (cover art) Marcelo Vasco – layout, graphic design Christophe Szpajdel – logo

Charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [6]	42
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [7]	31
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [8]	34

References

1. "Borknagar - True North - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". metal-archives.com. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
2. "Borknagar - True North". Discogs . Retrieved 12 January 2020.
3. Riedl, Katrin (18 September 2019). "Borknagar TRUE NORTH, Alben des Monats" (in German). Metal Hammer . Retrieved 18 September 2019.
4. Schiffmann, Andreas. "BORKNAGAR - True North". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 12 January 2020.
5. "The 50 Best Metal Albums of 2019". Loudwire . Townsquare Media. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
6. "Borknagar: True North" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
7. "Offiziellecharts.de – Borknagar – True North" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
8. "Swisscharts.com – Borknagar – True North". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 January 2020.