Swedish melodeath torchbearers Fimbul Winter, featuring three former members of Amon Amarth, have announced their debut EP, What Once Was, due out November 14th via the band. Pre-save the first single, “Mounds of Stones.”
Carrying the weight of history and the force of unfinished business, What Once Was delivers five tracks of cold, uncompromising death metal steeped in the spirit of Sweden’s early scene. Recorded by Sverker Widgrin (Mörk Gryning, Wormwood) and Shaun Farrugia, and mixed and mastered by Marko Tervonen (The Crown, Sarcator), the band’s debut also features session bass from Tobias Cristiansson (Necrophobic, Dismember, etc.) Built on rediscovered riffs from the early days of Amon Amarth, alongside brand-new compositions, the EP proves that the sound that once shook underground halls in Stockholm still cuts just as deep today.
Formed by founding Amon Amarth members Anders Biazzi and Niko Kaukinen, along with longtime drummer Fredrik Andersson, with the addition of vocalist Clint Williams (Munitions, Nemesium), the band fuses decades of experience with a fresh, uncompromising energy. What Once Was delivers a sound that is cold, intense, and fiercely authentic—a bold statement from a band built on unfinished business and a shared passion for the roots of Swedish death metal.
The idea sparked when the former bandmates reunited to perform Amon Amarth’s 1994 demo The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter. That one-off became the seed of something more serious: a new band committed to channelling the relentless intensity of early Swedish death metal into the present day.