“Cedar Skeletons,” our first preview of Panopticon’s new album The Rime Of Memory, was a 16-minute black metal behemoth. The second single is nothing like it. “I Erindringens Høstlige Dysterhet” is the album’s opening track. It’s just two minutes long, and it leans all the way into the traditional folk side of Panopticon’s sound. There’s nothing metallic about it at all; it’s quite pretty, though.

Here’s what Austin Lunn has to say about “I Erindringens Høstlige Dysterhet” on Bandcamp:

As the Loon flies south and changes its feathers to a new shade,
so our colors fade in our autumn years.
. . . And with those hues, go our elders,
who’s places we will soon be seated in.

This song was written to lament the loss of the elder generation of Scandinavian immigrants and their now elder offspring during the years surrounding the pandemic.
Their journey to Minnesota became a quintessential part of the culture here and a distinct part of many Minnesotan’s identities.

Listen below.

The Rime Of Memory is out 11/15 on Bindrune/Season Of Mist.