Further Information

Ramblings of Madmen is a self recorded, mixed and produced EP by the Icelandic band Ring of Gyges, to be released late May/early June. This will be the band's first official release, though independently released. It includes our first 5 songs. The project aims to fund the production of at least 100 physical copies.

Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Pillars Of Creation
3. Ghost
4. Interlude
5. Light Of The Day
6. Crystal Palace

Bio:
In the summer of 2013, a guy named Helgi Jónsson created a bunch of demos and posted them in a Facebook group for aspiring musicians, looking for band mates for a new project. He received a few replies, and eventually, 3 guys decided to meet up. Helgi, Einar and Guðjón got together in a filthy Kópavogur practice space and created music that was nearly unheard of in the Icelandic music scene, at least it has been for the past 40 years or so. That music was prog. Consisting of only a drummer and 2 guitarists, they soon hired a bassist. Shortly thereafter they started performing live. A keyboardist, Gísli, was recruited in the summer of 2014 and became a full time member of the band. The low end (bass) has been rolled around, Kristinn Freyr staying the longest, but the ball is still rolling. The band has gradually improved over time, and new material keeps getting better and better. Appearing numerous times, Ring of Gyges is a powerful live band, and made it to the finals in 2014's Músiktilraunir, the Icelandic equivalent of Battle of the Bands.

Sound:
Although Ring of Gyges are heavily inspired by the progressive rock bands of the 70’s, their sound is much more metal-oriented and draws influences from progressive bands of the modern age. They strive to create epic and grandiose music with unconventional song structures and vast soundscapes, often accompanied by philosophical lyrics.

We filmed the recording process and compiled into 3 short videos (in Icelandic only, sorry):

Studio diary 1:

Studio diary 2:

Studio diary 3

We also released an odd "overture" teaser stating exactly what the album will NOT sound like, although all the sounds appear buried under the rubble:

On more serious notes, here you can preview the song Pillars Of Creation:

Ring Of Gyges on Facebook

All recordings were done at Stúdíó Brautarholt, Grindavík.

With an EP digitally at the ready, all there is left now is the production of physical copies. With this project we aim to gather the funds necessary for that process, while providing you the opportunity to buy the album in advance. The different rewards, as can be seen on the right, allow those willing to contribute to choose from different amounts, starting at 5€. The first batch of the album will be 100 copies. We are currently planning a release party on June 5 (location will be announced soon), and if the project is succesful, the first batch can be ready by then.

500€ is the minimum amount we need to be able to finish the project, with much work still left for us (finalizing (mastering stage) the album, designing the booklet, packaging etc.). Scoring above the set goal will improve the outcome of the album, and possibly allow more copies to be made. Furthermore, if the album raises above 1000€, we can have it professionally mixed and mastered.

Rock on and support an endangered genre (at least in Iceland)!

Ring Of Gyges are:

Helgi Jónsson - Guitars/Main vocals
Guðjón Sveinsson - Guitars/Vocals
Gísli Þór Ingólfsson - Keyboards
Einar Merlin Cortes - Drums