Norwegian darkwave pioneers Penitent sign to The Circle Music

Norwegian dark/industrial/ambient/experimental pioneers Penitent have signed with The Circle Music. The collaboration will start with a new incarnation of the legendary debut album “Melancholia”, originally released by Cold Meat Industry almost 30 years ago in 1996. This will be an enhanced re-release as almost everything has been changed with re-recorded music and rewritten English lyrics – more information will be revealed in the coming months. 

Karsten Hamre, Penitent‘s heart and soul, has followed a peculiar personal path and for more than three decades has remained consistent, dressing his poetry in black and eerie melodies. Not only did the passing of time not deter him, on the contrary, today he is possessed by a freshness that is like doing a complete restart. He has re-recorded a large part of the ten albums he has released to date, while at the same time making new plans for the future.

After nearly 30 years, the Penitent debut album “Melancholia” is set to be released in a new incarnation. The music and instrumentation has been re-recorded, and the lyrics have been rewritten and are now all in English. Thanks to the good people at The Circle Music this reincarnation, now dubbed “Melancholia Redux” is set to be released on both CD and LP. I am thrilled about this cooperation, which should be a long-lasting one, and it should include more reworks as well as new and updated versions of the Penitent back catalogue (some to have voice/vocals added to them). Other future “Redux” versions may include “The Beauty of Pain”, “As Life Fades Away” and “Roses by Chaos Spawned”. Reworked version of “Deserted Dreams” and “A Shapeless Beauty” will for sure come, and then with added vocals/voice in order to be closer to how the songs in the past were performed live (in mainly Iasi and Bucharest, Romania and in Sofia, Bulgaria). This is also the way future live performances will be done as well. Naturally, there will also be new and never-before-released music in the pipeline, so there’s quite a bit to look forward to in the future. Finally, I would like to thank the team at The Circle Music for making all this happen. Karsten Hamre