Taake

Infobox musical artist
Name = Taake


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Origin = Bergen, Norway
Genre = Black metal
Years_active = 1993 - present
Label = Dark Essence Records, Tabu Records
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Current_members = Høst
Lava
Mord

Taake is a Norwegian black metal/folk metal band whose name is derived from the Norwegian word "tåke" which means fog.

History

In 1993, Ulvhedin Høst formed the first version of the band Taake under the name Thule, together with Svartulv, who was only twelve years old at the time. Thule released two demos; "Der Vinterstormene Raste" 1993 and "Omfavnet Av Svarte Vinger" 1994. Somewhere between the release of the latter demo and "Manndaudsvinter" in 1995, the band transformed from Thule to Taake which was more representative of the band and the area where Høst was from; the mountains of Bergen, Norway. Shortly after this release a 7" EP was released in 1996 called "Koldbrann i Jesu Marg"," which would be the last demo recording that Taake would release.

The first full-length album "Nattestid Ser Porten Vid" was released by Wounded Love Records in 1999. The album was written entirely by Høst but he brought in a session musician, Tundra to perform bass and drums. It was recorded throughout 1997 and 1998 at Grieghallen. "Nattestid..." is part I of a trilogy, all the writing on the CD and lyrics in the booklet are written in runes. However, all of the lyics are sung in Norwegian.

The second installment of the trilogy "Over Bjørgvin Graater Himmerik" was released in 2002. Again a seven song concept album, the theme for "Bjørgvin..." is death. On this record, Høst surrounded himself with a band for the record: C. Corax on Guitars, Keridwen on bass, and Mutt (Gaahlskagg, Trelldom, Sigfader) on drums.

The final installment of the trilogy was released in 2005 by Dark Essence Records. Entitled "...Dødskvad" it adhered to the 7 song format (representing the 7 mountains surrounding Bergen) of the first two records, but showed a change in style. While the first two records in the trilogy were clearly 80s metal influenced, this album was performed in a more traditional black metal style which was reminiscent of Enslaved or Bathory. "...Dødskvad" also differs from the other in that it features a number of guest musicians. These include the infamous Nattefrost from Carpathian Forest, Taipan (Orcustus), and Nordavind (ex-Carpathian Forest), as well as others. Following this release of this record Taake has had some minor releases, and played a few festivals (most notably Hole In The Sky Festival in Norway, with Ivar Bjørnson of Enslaved on guitars), but according to the official website they are "on ice for awhile."

Preceding the still 2006/2007 European tour, Taake revamped their official homepage, moving away from the defunct site. Following the infamous show in Essen, the band have been removed from several festivals and have taken much fire. The new website has also served as a place for Blabbermouth to get all the latest inflammatory statements from Høst.

Controversy

At a concert at Essen in Germany in March 2007, Høst went on stage with a huge swastika painted on his chest [ [http://lager.autisma.net/hoest_swastika.jpgPhoto of Høst at the "Turock" in Essen] ] . This stunt resulted in strong protests from both the audience and the press who were covering the concert. In Germany, where all Taake festival gigs were cancelled by the organisers, the use of Nazi symbols is forbidden by law, and Taake claims on their website that the reactions caused by the stunt was unexpected. On their website he also apologizes, though in a rather politically incorrect fashion:

"... we truly apologize to all of our collaborators who might get problems because of the Essen swastika scandal (except for the Untermensch owner of that club; you can go suck a Muslim)!" [ [http://taake.theblacksun.org/2007/03/23/statement-from-hoest/ Taake website] First statement from Høst]

According to an article published in the March 26th edition of the Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende, Taake's record label, Dark Essence Records, has indicated that it may terminate its relationship with the band as a result of Taake's behavior at the Essen concert. [ [http://www.bt.no/bergenpuls/musikk/article351315.ece Bergens Tidende] Article (in Norwegian) about swastika incident]

In a further statement on the Taake website from April 2nd, 2007, entitled "Swastika Statement Part 2: Spoonfeeding the Kids"," Høst maintained his unapologetic stance and attacked the 'internet debate' stating: "My previous statement clearly states that I apologize ONLY to our COLLABORATORS who might get problems [sic] because of the scandal. This means that I take full responsibility and should receive all “problems” myself.. But what problems did I get? We raped Essen on one of the first days of the tour and the word spread within minutes. For the rest of the tour I was such an easy target for verbal or physical abuse on stage, walking around the venues, in the streets, etc.. but I didn't receive ANY confrontation.. So keep your pathetic internet debate going, but don't think for one second that I take any of you seriously.. Furthermore, I never did anything to make Taake a “big” band. I was hoping to lose some fans with the Nekro EP, so now I certainly expect to get rid of some more." [ [http://taake.theblacksun.org/2007/04/02/swastika-statement-part-2-spoonfeeding-the-kids/ Taake website] Second statement from Høst]

In 2006 the activity in Taake came to a meantime halt, since Høst was imprisoned for a violent assault. On July 30th, 2007 the Taake website announced that the plans for the coming world wide tour was put on hold "due to a certain band member's imprisonment". On September 20th, 2007 Hoest announced on the band's website that he had been recently released from his 3rd incarceration for violence. He continued to state that all material for the next Taake album had been written and would be recorded as soon as possible. According to a September 8th 2008 post on the official website, all material for the new album has been recorded. The new album, simply named Taake, is due out in both CD and LP formats by the end of 2008.

Discography

Thule

*"Der Vinterstormene Raste" - Demo, 1993
*"Omfavnet Av Svarte Vinger" - Demo, 1994

Taake

Full Length Albums

*"Nattestid Ser Porten Vid" (1999)
*"Over Bjoergvin Graater Himmerik" (2002)
*"Hordaland Dødskvad" (2005)
*"Taake" (2008)

Demos, EPs, Splits, 7 inches

*"Manndaudsvinter" - demo, 1995
*"Koldbrann i Jesu Marg" - 7" EP, 1996
*"Taake / Amok" - Split 10" EP, 2004
*"Helnorsk Svartmetal" - EP/Demo Re-release, 2005
*"Taake Vinyl Boxset" - Picture Disc, 2005
*"Helnorsk Svartmetal + Nordens Dødsengel (1994)" - EP, 2005
*"A Norwegian HAIL to VON (1994)" - double 7" EP, 2005. Also featuring Amok, Norwegian Evil and Urgehal.
*"Taake / Vidsyn" - 10" 2006
*"Taake / Gigantomachy" - 10" 2006
*"Nekro" - EP, 2007
*Svartekunst - Live EP 2007

Bootlegs

*"A Night of Fog" - 2004
*"Live in Essen" - 2007

Band

*Høst (Ragnarok) - Guitars, Vocals, Composition
*V`gandr (Aeternus,Helheim, Deathcon , Cult of Catharsis)-Bass
*Skrubb - Guitar
*Aindiachaí - Guitar (Slavia)
*Thurzur - Drums (Sigfader, Infernal Manes, Gaahlskagg, Deathcult)

Past members

Thule

*Svartulv "Katta" "Kattaræv" (Tarmer) - Drums, Vocals

Taake

*Svartulv "Katta" "Kattaræv" (Tarmer) - Drums
*Dim - Vocals
*Frostein "Tundra" Arctander (Frostmoon, Tundra) - Drums, Bass, "Choir"
*C. Corax - Guitars
*Keridwen - Bass
*Mutt - Drums
*Lava(Aeternus, Amok) - Bass, Vocals
*Mord (Helheim, Cult of Catharsis) - Drums

Guest Musicians

*C. Corax - Guitars
*Taipan - Vocals
*Nattefrost - Vocals
*Nordavind - Vocals
*Discomforter - Vocals
*Utflod - Piano
*Støver - Whispers
*John Boyle - "Stridsrop" (Battlecry)

References

External links

* [http://taake.theblacksun.org/ Official site]