At the beginning of 2022, Icelandic power metal act POWER PALADIN released “With the Magic of Windfyre Steel,” via Atomic Fire Records. We talked with guitarist Ingi Þórisson about what the rest of 2022 was like for the band. Read the complete interview below…
In 2022, you released “With the Magic of Windfyre Steel.” Do you feel like this was overall your biggest achievement of the year or were there other things that you look back to proudly?
The album release was definitely the highlight of the year for us. Most of us have never released an album before and having gotten to do so with a label like Atomic Fire is still pretty mindblowing. A close second was our first ever gig abroad when playing at Das Oktober Metalfest in Eindhoven, that was a blast!
Was there anything that you felt like was still missing in 2022 that you would still like to achieve as a band?
More shows abroad probably. Our schedule and the whole COVID situation didn’t really offer us many chances to plan ahead but we got one festival abroad in, let’s hope for more next year.
As your music is also inspired by fantasy, games, and what not. Have you watched any TV-series or movies during this year that inspired you to write new music?
As much as I wish I could say The Witcher– season 2 (albeit it was released in late december 2021), we all know how that went. The first episode of that series was amazing though – there’s something about the mood of it that plays with that fun blend of gritty GOT fantasy and nostalgic Disney fantasy that might very well be fitting in some of the material we are working on. The Sandman and Obi-Wan Kenobi series were also amazing (especially The Sandman, holy moly).
Have you personally (re-)discovered any (new) music during 2022?
I got so into John Dowland again that I almost threw €3000 on an Arch Lute – until I found out that just replacing the strings costs like €300. But maybe in the future? Asides from that, I took a deep dive into STRATOVARIUS again, their new album is amazing, and I gave MAJESTICA‘s “Above the Sky” many, many spins. Then we had some great new material from FELLOWSHIP IN SABERLIGHT CHRONICLES and MISþYRMING with their new album “Með Hamri” (patiently waiting on the FELLOWSHIP/MISþYRMING joint tour).
What can we expect form Power Paladin in 2023? Are you planning to do more shows in support of the record?
More gigs at some point – for sure! Hopefully we’ll make it out to the European mainland for a festival or two since the COVID uncertainty didn’t really help us in 2022. But we’re also writing new material!
Article by Laureline Tilkin
