Øystein Brun

Øystein Garnes Brun (born 14 April 1975) is the guitarist and founder of the Norwegian heavy metal band Borknagar. He is the only permanent member of the group and wrote the majority of their songs. Brun is noted for having many albums already written ahead of time.

Øystein Brun
Brun performing in 2023
Background information
Born	(1975-04-14) 14 April 1975 (age 49)
Origin	Norway
Genres	Black metal Folk metal Progressive metal Death metal
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, programming
Years active	1991 - Present

Biography

After releasing two full-length albums with the death metal band Molested, Brun grew tired of playing death metal, and decided to form a more melodic metal band, inspired by the burgeoning black metal scene. He wrote a group of songs which would eventually become the first songs by Borknagar.

Borknagar

Brun gathered a cast of musicians who were well known in the black metal scene including Infernus of Gorgoroth, Erik Brødreskift of Immortal and Gorgoroth, Ivar Bjørnson of Enslaved, and Kristoffer Rygg of Ulver, Head Control System, and Arcturus. The stature of these musicians caused Malicious Records to award the band with a contract without even hearing them. After the release of their debut album, the band was signed to Century Media, where they remained until 2006. In 2007, they had a three album contract with Indie Recordings,^[1] which was terminated in 2011. The band resigned to Century Media shortly after.^[2] Through the years, the personnel has changed, but the sound is influenced mainly by Brun, so the style of music has been consistent despite a revolving lineup.^[3]

Cronian

In 2004, Brun and Andreas Hedlund founded Cronian, an epic sounding heavy metal band which had been in planning stages since before Hedlund had joined Borknagar. Their debut album Terra was produced by Dan Swanö and released in 2006 on Century Media.^[4]

Discography

With Molested

• Blod Draum (1995)
• Stormvold (EP) (1997)

With Borknagar

• Borknagar (1996, Malicious Records, Century Black)
• The Olden Domain (1997, Century Black)
• The Archaic Course (1998, Century Media Records)
• Quintessence (2000, Century Media Records)
• Empiricism (2001, Century Media Records)
• Epic (2004, Century Media Records)
• Origin (2006, Century Media Records)
• Urd (2012, Century Media)
• Winter Thrice (2016, Century Media)
• True North (2019, Century Media)
• Fall (2024, Century Media)

With Cronian

• Terra (2006)
• Enterprise (2008)
• Erathems (2013)

References

1. "BORKNAGAR Signs With INDIE RECORDINGS". Blabbermouth.net. 16 January 2008. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
2. Sciarretto, Amy (31 March 2011). "Borknagar Re-sign with Century Media for Next Three Albums". NoiseCreep. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
3. allmusic ((( Borknagar > Biography )))
4. allmusic ((( Cronian > Overview )))