PANOPTICON Det hjemskte hjertet LP (COLOUR) (PREORDER)

NB! This is a preorder item – Expected in Stock around May 18th

Austin Lunns journey carried Panopticon from the urban density of Louisville to the remote northern reaches of Minnesota. It is here, surrounded by a landscape both inspiring and endangered, that Det hjemskte hjertet took shape. The album follows an elder hermit in the final week of his life, interweaving childhood memories with a lament for an ecosystem transformed by modern encroachment.

Dense, atmospheric, and unmistakably cinematic, Det hjemskte hjertet (The Haunted Heart) shifts from the icy aggression of earlier works into something richer and more saturated a palette of purples and burning oranges fading into dusk. The folk instrumentation once associated with Panopticon has largely receded, giving way to tones reminiscent of Neil Young & Crazy Horse.

The metal foundation remains, but the records strength lies in composition rather than speed: layered arrangements, long-form dynamics, and a strong narrative undercurrent. A full orchestral presence runs throughout, with Charlie Andersons string performances adding both gravity and movement. Each song features a different guest vocalist Aaron Charles (Falls Of Rauros, Rhun), Jan Evan sli (Vemod), and Jan ‘Winterherz’ Van Berlekom (Waldgeflster) among them introducing distinct colours without compromising cohesion.

At heart, Det hjemskte hjertet is an elegy: for wilderness altered beyond recognition, for childhood memories fading into myth, and for a life spent in quiet communion with a world slipping away. Atmospheric black metal, post-black metal, or somewhere between them Panopticon remains defined not by genre, but by the land that shapes its voice.

Double Vinyl (Coloured) 7 mm Spined Gatefold Jacket with UV Spot 12-Page LP sized Booklet – Limited to 2000 copies – NORDVIS 2026