Oakenshield began life in 2004 under the name of Nifelhel, once as a studio project of young Englishman Ben Corkhill. The early sound of the project was more brutal and war-like than the music you hear today, featuring no keyboards or clean vocals. After two self-produced and self-released CD’s under Nifelhel, Ben thought it was time to take a different approach to the music, and resolved to create Oakenshield. The new music would prove to be far more epic, bringing in more of a folk-like aspect while also introducing some decent progressive elements. Rather than producing lyrics about battles and journeys as had been done with Nifelhel, Ben wanted to produce a concept album. After reading through the legends, myths and lore of the Old Norse mythology, it was decided that the first book of the Prose Edda, „Gylfaginning” was the perfect choice for the album’s theme. Writing the material for the album started almost immediately and after some time the full eleven tracks were completed. In early 2007 four of these tracks – as well as a cover of Bathory’s „Home Of Once Brave” – were selected for a demo entitled simply „Gylfaginning Demo”. After spreading the word online, Oakenshield started to gain some acknowledgement through the internet, with a 7/10 review at Metal Storm and an upcoming review in the Pagan Herald. Demos were also sent out to various labels in Europe. Einheit Produktionen contacted Ben after hearing the CD, interested in working with him to produce and release Oakenshield’s first full-length. Eventually, after some months of emailing back and forth between Ben and the label, Oakenshield was officially signed to Einheit Produktionen in July 2007.

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