Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Mortiis unveils music video of the title track & details of forthcoming new album “Ghosts of Europa”
Iconic Norwegian artist Mortiis presents the the stunning music video ‘Ghosts of Europa‘. This is also the title track (feat. vocals of Sarah Jezebel Deva (The Kovenant, Cradle Of Filth et al.) and Laurie Ann Haus (Blizzard Games, Todesbonden) as well as additional synths & sequencers from Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning) and first advance single taken from his upcoming new full-length.
“Ghosts of Europa” has been scheduled for release on June 26, 2026. Please see below for cover art & album details.
The music video ‘Ghosts of Europa‘ is now available via this link:
Mortiis comments on ‘Ghosts of Europa‘: “This song has tried many shapes and forms, until it finally sort of found itself”, the Norwegian writes. “I never thought that it would end up this way. Strange, mysterious, and choral. It started out as a simple thing, a different song, with a different title, which got slowly de-constructed and altered. This did not happen due to dissatisfaction with the original, but because layers of new ideas appeared. As excited as I am about this new ‘entity’ and the way it shaped up, the title, that has already been in existence for years, feels slightly, and sadly, prophetic – although that was never my intention.“
Video credits
Written & directed by Claudio Marino
First assistant director: Daniel Josefsson
Produced by Artax Film
Colouring by Yellowtone
Cast
Woman: Enya Ellefsen
Oracle: Gunn Johansson
Key Bearers: Daniel Josefsson & Mortiis
Tracklist:
2. Return to the Old Fields
3. The Faith That Fades Away
4. Violent Silence
5. Transcending Morpheus
6. Tundra, Heart of Hell
7. Tribes of Dystopia
8. Farewell Romero
With “Ghosts of Europa”, the enigmatic Norwegian artistic entity known as Mortiis presents an album that he views as a creative liberation. During its long and winding creation process such concepts as genre, rules or experimenting with sounds dissolved while simply making music that reflected every conceivable idea on his mind without accepting any limitations became his guiding principle.
Of course, Mortiis‘ musical handwriting is ever present. Echoes from the often quite divergent phases of his previous works can be found across “Ghosts of Europa”. Yet the creator of musical worlds left hardly a stone not turned in his epic quest for genuinely new ways of expression. As a result, this cinematic and visionary album often feels expansive, strange, and darkly dystopian. In this, “Ghosts of Europa” reflects its maker’s struggles while creating the album – as for him, these tend to come into existence at the cost of friendships and relationships as well as much soul searching.
“Ghosts of Europa” has also been shaped to some extent by the original idea that involved a collaboration of Mortiis with Stephan Groth from Apoptygma Berzerk based on their mutual fascination with the highly influential old German school of electronic music, and particularly Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. When this fell apart, Mortiis decided to continue on his own, and a long process of transforming the early recorded materials began.
Relics of this early stage remain in hints of the influences from Berlin as well as a host of guest contributions, but visions of bleak, desolate, and timeless alien landscapes warped and mutated the songs. This carried “Ghosts of Europa” also into spaces where Mortiis never existed before.
In order to reflect both, the album’s general orientation towards electronic and industrial rock as well as the particularly wide range of stylistic influences reaching beyond its core, the choice of sound engineer fell on a most renowned specialist for precisely such sonic experiences: Luckily, Sean Beavan agreed to mix “Ghosts of Europa”. His credits include working with Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, System Of A Down, Guns N’ Roses, and Slayer among many other greats.
In the beginning of the artistic entity Mortiis there was black metal. The artist Håvard Ellefsen known as the musical entity Mortiis started out as a bass player in and during the formation of legendary Norwegian band Emperor in 1991 and 1992. After parting ways with these black metal pioneers, Mortiis embarked on a solo career, the so called ‘Era I’. From 1993 until 1999, the Norwegian released six full-length albums that were entirely composed on synthesizers and are considered to constitute a fundamental influence on the later Dungeon Synth genre.
In the next decades, Mortiis evolved and redefined his sound through several eras that embraced experimental & heavy industrial rock, a new wave of gothic & electronic influences, experimental studio works, and back to his roots.
During most of his career Mortiis has performed with a mask and face prosthetic that turned his stage persona into an otherworldly being. Over the year, his looks have changed and evolved. For a time during ‘Era 0’, his live concept even abandoned the wearing of the iconic mask. Mortiis‘ stage entity has often been compared with a troll – a creature of Nordic folklore, which it was never intended to be according to the artist.
“Ghosts of Europa” is the sonic testimony of an experienced and matured musician, who created what he loves most and does best: electronic rock with stylistic influences from many genres while not being bound by any that creates dark soundscapes, cinematic sonic visions, and a plethora of emotions. Just when you think that you have finally figured “Ghosts of Europa” out, Mortiis will surprise you with another facet and fresh aspect of his richly detailed masterpiece.
Artist: Mortiis
Album title: Ghosts of Europa
Release date: June 26, 2026
Style: Electronic rock
Label: Prophecy Productions
Distribution: SPKR
Line-up
Håvard “Mortiis” Ellefsen – vocals, keyboards, vocoder, bass guitar, programming
Guest musicians
Benedicte Computorgirl (Computorgirl) – vocals on track 4
Christopher Amott (Arch Enemy et al.) – guitar solo on track 7
Christopher Rakkestad (Elvarhøi, Bolverk) – vocals on track 1-6
Emil Nikolaisen (Serena Maneesh, Brian Jonestown Massacre et al.) – fuzz & noise guitars & additional FX on track 3 & 4
Iliana Basileios Tsakiraki (Enemy Of Reality, Septicflesh et al.) – vocals on tracks 1, 2, & 5
Laurie Ann Haus (Blizzard Games) – vocals on track 1, 2, 5 & 7
Matthew Setzer (Skinny Puppy, London After Mdnight) – throat singing on track 7
Michal Kielbasa (Black Magic Rites et al.) – tubular bell & vibraphone on track 2, tubular bell on track 6 & tabla loops, additional synths & FX on track 7
Sarah Jezebel Deva (The Kovenant, Cradle Of Filth et al.) – vocals on tracks 1-3, 5 & 6
Thomas Bolverk (Ragnarok, Bolverk) – distortion, clean & sampled guitars on track 6
Thorsten Quaeschning (Tangerine Dream) – additional synths & sequencers on track 1
Vegard Blomberg (Mock) – e-bow & guitars on track 2, additional Copicat, Space Echo, fuzz & e-bow guitars) on track 4, Copicat, Space Echo & fuzz guitars on track 4, fuzz guitars on track 6, fuzz & ambient guitars on track & guitars on track 8
Erling Blomberg – additional guitars on track 8
Recorded (re-recorded, re-animated & eternally tweaked and re-tweaked) at various locations over a thousand sessions during years of misery, poverty, and disdain (2020-2026) in Fredrikstad (NO)
Early vocal recording by co-producer Stephan Groth at Pitch Black Drive, Fredrikstad (NO)
Mix by Sean Beavan at The Grey Room, Crestline, CA (US)
Mastering by Jules Seifert at Epic Audio Media, London (UK)
Artwork by Nihil
Layout by Laurent Clément (Dead Seed Productions)
Shop
https://mortiiswebstore.com/pages/ghosts-of-europa
Available formats
“Ghosts of Europa” is available as ltd. box set incl. 2CD artbook edition, gatefold LP (excl. handmade sand-filled vinyl), bonus LP, music cassette et al. (50 copies). Ltd. box set incl. 2CD artbook edition, gatefold LP (excl. ‘galaxy’ metallic vinyl), bonus LP, music cassette et al. (450 copies). As a 60-page hardcover 2CD artbook incl. 8-track bonus CD, ltd. Gatefold marble smoke vinyl LP (300 copies), ltd. Gatefold crystal clear vinyl LP (300 copies), Gatefold black vinyl LP, and Digipak CD.
Links