Release Date June 5th/July 10th/August 21st, 2026
Format Deluxe Gatefold 2 LP/Digi CD
Genre Viking Metal
Origin Sweden
Mithotyn formed in Sweden in 1993 and issued four demos before its 1997 debut. The band completed a three album run in as many years, "In The Sign Of The Ravens", "King Of The Distant Forest" and "Gathered Around The Oaken Table". Its sound joined black metal vocals and tremolo guitar with folk melody, heavy metal riffing, sung choruses and lyrics drawn from Norse myth, warfare and nature. Mithotyn split after the third album, leaving a compact discography created during the first wave of Swedish Viking metal. Hammerheart Records now brings all three titles to vinyl and digi CD for the first time, remastered by Nightside Audio and presented with new artwork by Kris Verwimp that respects the original visual direction.
"In The Sign Of The Ravens" runs for about fifty six minutes across eleven tracks and presents Mithotyn in an early, raw form. Long arrangements, blackened growls and hard tremolo lines dominate, with folk melody appearing in shorter bursts. The production is narrow and the drums lack depth; several guitar layers blur when the pace rises. That rough surface has character, though it also mutes details that deserve separation. The songs have ambition and atmosphere, especially in the movement between violent verses and sung choruses, though some stretch one motif past its useful limit. Nightside Audio’s remaster adds definition and preserves the 1997 texture. This is a firm debut, uneven in construction, rich in ideas and far colder than the melodic albums that followed.
"King Of The Distant Forest" spans close to fifty nine minutes and twelve tracks. The folk component comes forward, joining fast melodic riffs, blackened shrieks, growls and choir like refrains. Traces of power metal add scale to the Viking subject matter, and the lyrics center on warriors, battles, myth and ancient landscapes. Tracked at Los Angered Studio, the album has firmer bass, crisper drums and greater separation than the debut. A few choruses stay on their central line too long, though the tighter arrangements rarely lose momentum. This chapter sounds focused, aggressive and proudly melodic, with enough variation in tempo and vocal contrast to hold together across its long running time. The remaster exposes more guitar detail and gives the low end greater presence without turning the mix into modern excess.
Finally, "Gathered Around The Oaken Table" contains twelve tracks and lasts about an hour. Folk melody, black metal aggression and classic heavy metal motion meet in balanced proportions, supported by a broader mix from Berno Studio. The guitars move between charging riffs and calmer melodic turns, while the vocals alternate between growls and choral singing. Lyrics return to Viking warfare, ancestral memory, myth and northern scenery. Some refrains remain fixed on one hook, and small cuts would have improved the longer songs. The variety is substantial, the pacing stays controlled and the melodies have real staying power. As Mithotyn’s final album, it closes the band’s short run with mature writing and a broad emotional range. The remaster and revised artwork make this reissue series a respectful, valuable return for three albums that belong in the core Viking metal conversation.
|7.8 |8.3 |8.0
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