The Hidden History of Keldian

Dear fans, aside from our main releases, we want to share more of Keldian's history with you. On this compilation you will find demo and bonus material, including tracks that predate the first Keldian album. Some of it for the more hardcore fans perhaps, but all a part of Keldian's history and evolution.
[original release date: September 26, 2018]
0:00 - To the Sound of Falling Rain
4:42 - Burden of Dreams
9:33 - The End of the World
- It began many years ago. We loved music and movies, and set about creating our own thing. The result was a theatrical stage performance as Protos Nemesis, with our friends Tom Ohnstad and Annette Aalen. This demo was built on that foundation and recorded in 2003. It´s very different from the Keldian you know and love. Inspired by artists like Pink Floyd and Enigma, it was intended to be a concept album based on the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman. Soon enough, we would be distracted by the stars, but this was the beginning. So open a nice red wine, and enjoy.
16:16 - The Unbearable Heartache
19:43 - Love Gardeners
24:06 - Hurting Dreams
27:29 - Beneath the Leaves
32:17 - Requiem
- This demo started out as a recording made by our previous band Alien Love Gardeners. The original lineup included our old friends Kjell Vidar Merkesdal (bass) and Inge Andreas Merkesdal (drums). The original EP recording was printed in a very limited edition in 2000 under the title Cuts Shape the Man. It was rearranged, partially rerecorded, and remixed in 2005, forming the basis for what would soon become Keldian. The keen listener may also recognize the organ-melody on Requiem, that later became an integral part of the theme from Requiem for the Light on our debut album Heaven's Gate.
33:09 - Hope
- The Japanese version of Heaven’s Gate was released by Tokyo based label Stay Gold. It featured an exclusive bonus track named Hope. Asking for an exclusive bonus track is a common practice with Japanese labels, this makes their own releases more competitive in a domestic marketplace flooded with imports. This opportunity kind of came out of the blue for us, with everything concerning the Heaven's Gate production already well behind us. It's safe to say it was produced and recorded at breakneck speed. In addition to the usual Keldian suspects; Vemund Osland contributed with a wicked guitar solo and Anette Fodnes with some beautiful vocals.
37:09 - Dystopian Skyline
39:41 - Planet of Machines
- During the process of making Outbound there were some bits and pieces that fell by the wayside. Dystopian Skyline was an idea for an album intro that we discarded. Planet of Machines was one of the songs that never made it. We wrote it and tracked some of it, but decided against using it on the album. This is the pre-production demo, programmed drums underpinning synths, guitars and vocals.
43:26 - Scoundrel Days
- To complete the production of Outbound we needed financial assistance. So we asked our fans to contribute. They did, and made Outbound a reality! In return they got exclusive previews, album downloads, and a signed limited edition cd which featured a special bonus track. We decided to do a cover for the first time and chose Scoundrel Days (Furuholmen/Waaktaar-Savoy), the title track off a-Ha's second album (1986). At last Chris could try to emulate one of his vocal heroes, Morten Harket.
(images used under Pixabay license)