Why Norwegian Metal music should be considered for Game Of Thrones season 7

Game Of Thrones is revving up for season 7 as filming is well underway and is due to wrap up in February next year. Well with The Telegraph [source] reporting that Norway could be included in the set locations for filming, it would seem ideal to use either Norwegian metal music or music created by metal musicians I.e. not true metal, so from ambient to atmospheric musics such as Wardruna per se.

It would also be fitting for the Game of Thrones saga to use such music given it's historical links with Norway in as far as the Black Metal style goes; not that one can imagine the likes of Jon Snow headbanging in the great halls or the Lannisters marching on enemy soils to the majestic sound of Dimmu Borgir's 'The Serpentine Offering', that said with the Norwegian Black Metal scene donning a Viking, mythological or folkloric stance then for sure the music itself would be rather fitting for the rather bloody yet mercurial fantasy-drama series.

As the Stark family / clan motto self-expresses, 'winter is coming' and thus so should the bitterness of the soundtrack provided. As the HBO producers of Game Of Thrones contemplate filming in Norway; given the land of Westeros facing the threat of a long and dark winter, this temptation has been given a boost given that Norway edges over Sweden in terms of their film production tax breaks additionally the actor who plays the wildling leader Tormund Gianstbane happens to be Norwegian (Kristofer Hivju).

Of course Metal music has been a staple in Norwegian music history with the most notable movements occurring in in the Black Metal styles. From the dawning of the 'Early Norwegian Black Metal' scene (2nd wave of Black Metal) from which bands like Mayhem, Enslaved Darkthrone, Old Funeral, Gorgoroth, Carpathian Forest, Immortal and Satyricon among others would emerge. It was also during this time that both the Magne Andreassen and Øystein Aarseth murders took place, Bård Guldvik "Faust" Eithun and Varg Vikernes being the respective murderers. Additionally the Fantoft stave church was burnt to the ground by Varg Vikernes, this sparking off a string of church arsons across Norway and into Sweden and beyond into Finland.

With the dark, grim and horrendous nature of the 2nd wave being left behind and the present 3rd wave of Black Metal breaking ground, with the largely ignored rise of the National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) movement and Black Metal spreading into the Middle East and beyond, the music genre will always carry connotations of hatred or at least a form of, be it deriving from the Satanic occult, anti-Islamism, anti-Semitism or indeed of an elitist nature.

Harking back to the Game of Thrones however, what would be an ideal band soundtrack in addition to the next score to potentially be written by German-Iranian composer Ramin Djawadi?

Below are 10 bands and accompanying songs that would befit the Game Of Thrones world and draw in the sound of True Norwegian Black Metal:-

1. Satyricon - The Pentagram Burns
2. Dimmu Borgir - The Serpentine Offering'
3. Wardruna - Völuspá
4. Carpathian Forest - I Am Possessed
5. Darkthrone - Tundra Leech (Arctic Thunder)
6. Gorgoroth - Sign of an Open Eye
7. Mayhem - Deathcrush
8. Taake - Nordbundet
9. Urgehal - Goatcraft Torment
10. Windir - 1184 - Todeswalzer

Hopefully the producers of Game of Thrones will consider Norwegian Metal, specifically Black Metal as a choice of background music or perhaps include some musicians as extras, who knows what will happen but the thought is very there and very tempttng.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/norway/articles/game-of-thrones-filming-norway/