Following the release of Borknagar’s 10th album in 2016, Winter Thrice, many of the pieces that drove the band’s progressive Viking/folk/black metal for a good portion of the past two decades started falling by the wayside. These included guitarist Jens Ryland, whose association with the band went back as far as 1997, and lead vocalist Andreas “Vintersorg” Hedlund, who understandably bowed out after suffering a near-tragic injury.