Updates
Posts and announcements from the band : mirrored from @athas.band on Instagram.
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Two Hundred
2026-10-01
Thank you for 200 followers — Aþas is still taking shape from forgotten kingdoms toward the debut.
Two hundred of you are already here.
Thank you for following Aþas from these first steps. The project is still taking shape — from the ruins of forgotten kingdoms to the music, imagery, and stories that will bring its world to life.
We have a long road ahead, and we are only just beginning.
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Anglo-Saxon Futhorc
2026-09-28
Beyond the Elder Futhark: the runes of Anglo-Saxon England, adapted for Old English — a collaborator carousel from @dyrmaor.
We talk about the Elder Futhark all the time — and far less about the runes used in Anglo-Saxon England.
The Futhorc grew from that older system and was reshaped for the sounds of Old English. New runes were added; the tradition expanded with language, place, and people.
Runes were never one fixed alphabet. Anglo-Saxon inscriptions deserve that attention — archaeology, language, and early medieval history carved in the same strokes.
Art and carousel by the wonderful @dyrmaor.
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The Battle of Maldon
2026-09-22
991 on the Blackwater: Byrhtnoth falls, loyalty holds, and an Old English poem keeps the defeat alive.
Do you know the battle of Maldon?
In 991, on the banks of the Blackwater in Essex, the Anglo-Saxon ealdorman Byrhtnoth faced a Viking army. The English were defeated. Byrhtnoth was killed. And yet the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon still remembers loyalty, honour, and the bond between lord and warrior.
The Chronicle confirms the death; the poem gives the drama. Even the manuscript barely survived the Cotton Library fire — and what remains still feels strangely alive.
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Album Cover Sketch — Work in Progress
2026-09-16
Forty hours into the debut cover sketch with @dyrmaor — composition locked, engraving style ahead.
Forty hours for the sketch — and the full cover still ahead.
Slides walk through the first composition: shapes and ideas before the serious pass. The next stage refines the drawing toward an engraving style, less sketch, more final metal.
Art and process by @dyrmaor.
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Friedrich’s Landscapes
2026-09-15
Caspar David Friedrich’s sublime — mist, ruins, and nature vast enough to threaten — still feeds dark fantasy and Aþas.
There is something haunting about Friedrich’s landscapes.
Solitary figures, endless mountains, mist swallowing the horizon — the feeling of standing before something vast and unknowable. That vision of the sublime still lives in dark fantasy, gothic art, and worlds built around ancient ruins.
For Aþas, we draw from the same feeling: nature immense, beautiful, and threatening; stones that remember what men have forgotten; mist that might hide something waiting beyond the horizon.
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The Old Kingdom Is Gone
2026-09-07
Only the stones remember its name — a mist-bound path through battlefield silence and waiting forest.
The old kingdom is gone.
Only the stones remember its name. The battlefield has fallen silent, and beyond the last broken road, the forest waits beneath the mist.
Which path would you follow?
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Nightmares Had a Name
2026-08-31
In Old English imagination, the darkness of sleep could take the shape of a creature — and the word survived.
There was a time when nightmares had a name.
In the Old English imagination, the darkness of sleep could take the shape of a creature — something that came in the night, pressed against the body, and left you unable to move or breathe.
The word survived. The creature became folklore. And somehow, we still call our darkest dreams by its name.
Would you have believed there was something waiting for you in the dark?
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Fallen Glory Bindrune
2026-08-27
A bindrune for Fallen Glory : power slowly reclaimed by nature — possible future merch.
We created this bindrune around the idea of Fallen Glory: something once powerful, slowly reclaimed by nature.
The symbol is being swallowed by vegetation, as if time itself had decided to take it back. A reminder that even glory fades, monuments fall, and nature always outlives what we build.
This design might be available as Aþas merch.
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The Final Chapter Approaches
2026-08-25
Another studio glimpse as the album nears unveiling — for those who wander haunted fortresses.
Wesaþ ge Hale.
As we prepare to unveil the upcoming album from the abyss, here is a glimpse from the studio.
For those who wander the halls of haunted fortresses… welcome home.
Booking: @sanitmils.
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If This Is Your Vibe
2026-08-21
Ancient woods, forgotten gods, iron, ash, and cold northern winds — Anglo-Saxon black metal as home.
If this is your vibe, you might have found your way home.
Ancient woods, forgotten gods, iron, ash and cold northern winds: a black metal rooted in Anglo-Saxon history, folklore and the darker edges of the medieval world.
Booking: @sanitmils.
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Rehearsal Before the First Show
2026-08-19
POV rehearsal reel : mistakes, noise, endless repetitions — getting ready to bring Aþas to the stage.
POV: you’re watching us rehearse before our first show.
A few mistakes, a lot of noise, and endless repetitions. And that strange feeling of knowing that soon, these songs won’t belong only to us anymore.
We’re getting ready to bring Aþas to the stage — one rehearsal at a time.
Booking: @sanitmils.
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If Your Playlist Sounds Like a Forgotten Dark Age
2026-08-12
Discovery post : if your playlist sounds like a forgotten dark age, you may have found Aþas.
If your playlist sounds like a forgotten dark age — welcome.
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Anglo-Saxon Facts That Sound Like Fantasy
2026-08-11
Ten Anglo-Saxon facts that sound like fantasy but are completely true — including wyrd.
Ten Anglo-Saxon facts that sound like fantasy — but are completely true.
Among them: wyrd, often translated as fate. Anglo-Saxon poetry insists that although fate is inevitable, honour lies in how one faces it. Wyrd bið ful āræd — fate remains wholly inexorable.
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The Final Chapter Approaches (Studio)
2026-08-10
Studio glimpse as the album nears unveiling — recorded with @d.n.i_studio.
Wesaþ ge Hale.
As we prepare to unveil the upcoming album from the abyss, here is a glimpse from the studio.
For those who wander the halls of haunted fortresses… welcome home.
Studio: @d.n.i_studio. Booking: @sanitmils.
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English Words You Still Use Every Day
2026-08-07
Long before 1066, Anglo-Saxons were already speaking words millions still use : a collaborator carousel from @dyrmaor.
English didn’t begin with Shakespeare.
Long before 1066, when Norman French transformed the language, the Anglo-Saxons were already speaking words that millions of people still use every day.
Which word surprised you the most?
Art and carousel by the wonderful @dyrmaor.
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Who Did Fate Choose for You?
2026-08-06
Tap and hold : discover the ancient soul that has always walked beside yours.
Tap and hold. Discover the soul that has always walked beside yours.
Then tell us : who did fate choose for you?
Share your result in your story and tag @athas.band so we can see which ancient soul found you.
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The Storm Remembers
2026-07-28
The storm remembers what the stones refuse to forget : new music is coming.
Wesaþ ge Hale.
The storm remembers what the stones refuse to forget.
New music is coming.
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Album Cover Sketch Revealed
2026-07-22
First look at the album cover work in progress : atmosphere before the record is heard.
We’re currently working on the album cover : an image meant to capture the atmosphere before a record is heard.
If you’re drawn to fallen kingdoms, forgotten legends, dark fantasy, and medieval imagery, we think you’ll feel at home here.
This is only the beginning. More soon.
Art direction with @sanitmils.
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Mist & Forgotten Kingdom
2026-07-14
Atmosphere post : only those who walk through the mist may hear the voices of the old kingdoms.
Only those who walk through the mist may hear the voices of the old kingdoms.
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Old English Inspiration
2026-07-12
A thousand-year-old epic as compass : courage before death, the weight of memory, and the thread of wyrd.
Composed over a thousand years ago, this Old English epic preserves the ideals of the Anglo-Saxon world: courage in the face of death, the weight of memory, and the inescapable thread of wyrd — fate.
These are the same currents that run through Aþas.
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Forged in Wyrd
2026-07-11
Old English wyrd as the unseen thread of deed, oath, and destiny : a bindrune forged in that spirit.
In the shadows of the Anglo-Saxon world, wyrd was more than fate.
Wyrd was the unseen thread binding every deed, every oath, every battle and every loss : a force beyond human will, shaping the path carved by one’s choices and the echoes left behind.
The Old English word carries the weight of what becomes, what unfolds, what cannot be escaped. Not a prophecy written in stone, but the relentless weaving of existence itself.
This bindrune was forged in that spirit : a mark of ancestry, struggle, and destiny; a reminder that every scar, every victory, and every sacrifice becomes part of the tale.
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Wælstow Song Theme Reveal
2026-06-30
Theme carousel for Wælstow : a song of echoes and ruin on the forthcoming album.
Wesaþ ge Hale.
Wælstow, a song of echoes and ruin. It will be on our upcoming album.
From Old English, wælstow means “slaughter-place” or “battlefield.” The song opens in the ruins of such a place, where echoes of cries and broken oaths still resound : a liminal space between memory and forgetting.
Meanwhile, here is the essence of this unreleased title. An appetiser for what is coming.
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The Final Chapter Approaches
2026-06-20
Studio glimpse as the album nears unveiling : for those who wander haunted fortresses.
Wesaþ ge Hale.
As we prepare to unveil the upcoming album from the abyss, here is a glimpse from the studio.
For those who wander the halls of haunted fortresses… welcome home.
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The Album Approaches
2026-06-16
Raw studio glimpse : fragment of an unreleased album track.
Wesaþ ge Hale.
A raw glimpse into the studio sessions. This is a fragment of one of the album’s more epic tracks : feast your ears on this sneak peek.
Video by @loerk.
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The Name of Aþas
2026-06-11
Etymology traced from Old English āþas to Proto-Germanic aiþaz : oaths.
Aþas
Today we trace where our name comes from : from Old English to Proto-Germanic and the languages that still carry it.
From Old English āþas (pl. of āþ), from Proto-Germanic aiþaz: “oaths.” Cognate with Gothic aiþs, German Eid, and modern English oath.
Aþas : melodic black metal from the dark ages.
Logo by the wonderful @dyrmaor.
Wesaþ ge Hale.
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The Anglo-Saxons and Dark Fantasy
2026-06-08
The two pillars of Aþas : sparse historical record and the ruin aesthetic of dark fantasy.
Wesaþ ge Hale.
Today we dive into the two pillars of Aþas and explore the link between the fragmentary record of Anglo-Saxon history and dark fantasy.
The Anglo-Saxon past is a long-distant ruin : magnificent and fragmentary, like a world in Dark Souls: tarnished glory where much has been lost to time. Aþas stands at the bridge between that ruin and the project.
Illustrations and logo by the wonderful @dyrmaor.
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Finished Tracking All Instruments
2026-06-02
Two-day studio session complete : all instruments and vocals tracked.
This marks the end of our two-day studio session with @d.n.i_studio, who kindly lent us his studio.
We used an SM7B and Neumann U87 for all vocals. Three of us participated in the backing vocals.
It is not even mixed yet, but we are already amazed at the results. A teaser is coming relatively soon.
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Wesaþ ge Hale : Vocal Session at DNI
2026-06-01
Two songs recorded with lead and backing vocals at D.N.I Studio.
View on Instagram · Watch reel
After setting up the gear at @d.n.i_studio, we fully recorded two songs with lead and backing vocals. @loerk did a great job behind the console as always.
We are one step closer to the album and cannot wait to show you what we produced over the last year and a half.
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Getting Closer to the Album
2026-05-29
Guitars tracked at home; drums recorded at studio : vocals session next.
We are officially at the finish line for tracking. This record has been a massive undertaking.
All 7-string and 8-string guitars were tracked at home in DI. @loerk crushed the drums at his studio.
Vocals were the last piece : heading into the studio to lay down the takes and lock this thing in.
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The Siege Begins
2026-05-28
Live lineup revitalized : rehearsals underway for the stage.
With a revitalized live lineup, we are fully immersed in rehearsals and sharpening our blades for the stage. Aþas is preparing to bring melodic black metal violence to the live circuit.
Stay vigilant. Details soon.
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Stepping Out of the Shadows
2026-05-25
First public announcement after two years of writing and recording in the shadows.
For the past two years, Aþas has been working tirelessly in the shadows : writing, recording, and forging a sound born from a fascination with the ancient Anglo-Saxons and dark, forgotten lore.
We hope you are as intrigued to discover this world as we were to create it. Will you step into the fog with us?
Update
Debut Material in Finalization
2026-04-20
Guitars and drums are recorded, with material being finalized.
The debut material is being finalized after recording core instruments.
Studio setup during debut tracking sessions. The tracking was shared by most of the bandmembers depending on mood and profeciency for a centain part.