Behind The Artwork: Profane Burial - The Rosewater Park Legend (2018)

Thank you for contacting Profane Burial. Before answering your question I would like to give you some background information regarding the band. "The Rosewater Park Legend" is our debut album, and we have actually been working on this since 2013/2014. Due to some obstacles things sadly took longer time than anticipated, but finally we are very proud to release our album through Apathia Records 23. March 2018!

Profane Burial was founded in 2013 by me (Kjetil Ytterhus) and André Aaslie known from such acts as Images At Twilight, Funeral, Abyssic. It all started in 2012 for my part when I was supposed to help out with editing on Images At Twilight's mighty "Kings" record. I started to learn Cubase and orchestration, and I thought the quickest/best way to learn that was to compose something. One thing lead to another, and suddenly I had enough material to an album which André then worked further with.

In 2016 all tracks had been finished for some time as a "pre-prod", but we were lacking band members and Profane Burial was also booked for a gig! We got in touch with the highly skilled drummer; Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow (Viper Solfa, Trollfest) and he recommended Jostein Thomassen on guitar (Fracture, Viper Solfa) and Ronny Thorsen on vocal (x-Trail of tears, x-Blood Red Throne, Viper Solfa) to have a listen at our music. They really liked it, and we started right away composing new guitars, drums and adding vocal to the music.

“The Rosewater Park Legend” is indeed a very detailed story and the lyrics are written by Bjørn Nørsterud. It is easier to describe the full album as one, because together all the tracks make up an entire story, so yes, this is actually a concept album. The story itself is mainly about a witch and her revenge on those who killed her (through her granddaughter) and it follows different persons through the ages. It has it's twists and turns, and things may not be as straight forward as one may think. “The Stench of The dying Roses” for instance takes place after the witch is dead, and there is peace in the village. The children mock the witch in their little nursery rhyme, and everything is fine. Until ...

Yes, it has elements of a ghost story, witch-hunt and religion, and the last song is written in Norwegian. Why, you might say? Well, Profane Burial is a Norwegian band, and we felt it suited the album. This song deals with a letter that was written by an old Norwegian Witch, and it was a nice way to end the story.

Some words from the author himself (Bjørn Nørsterud):

“Looking back at the earliest notes I wrote, I see that the history has changed character a lot. Naturally, while the guys wrote and designed the music, I had to come up with more and more text so that they could get what they wanted. For example, Andre could say that we need more text here and there, so just try to either merge something extra into history or extend it. An element where a priest and a raven have the lead role is an example of exactly that.

Why it became this story I have no good explanation for; I just sat down and started with a tower bell, and then it all grew from there. Yes, there is a lot of gothic horror here, obviously colored by all that I've read over the years. Now that all is done, I have to say that I am very pleased with the way everything has been put together, the music is created for this kind of story. So if you like atmospheric metal with a horror history, I do not think you will be disappointed with your visit to this rose garden. Which is not as idyllic as the title might imply.”