In Lingua Mortua
Norway · formed 1999 · last active 2010
In Lingua Mortua is a Norwegian project founded in 1999 by Lars Fredrik Frøislie, fusing 1970s progressive rock with black metal via Mellotron, Hammond organ and harmonica. Its 2010 album Salon des Refusés is frequently cited as a forerunner of the 'blackjazz' sound, featuring guest saxophone and bass clarinet from Jørgen Munkeby of Shining (Norway).
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
WHY THOSE SCORES
- Jazzy 7 — Salon des Refusés is widely cited as a forerunner of the 'blackjazz' sound, with Jørgen Munkeby guesting on saxophone and bass clarinet
- Surf 2 — Steel guitar is credited among the album's instrumentation per Repose Records' liner-note credits
- Death 1 — Minor death-metal-adjacent heaviness within a primarily black/prog mix
- Black 6 — Rooted in black metal vocals and riffing fused with 1970s progressive rock
- Technical 6 — Jørgen Munkeby cites the record's 'impressive intellectual display' of compositional complexity
- Theatrical 1 — Guest vocalist Niklas Kvarforth (Shining Sweden) contributes a theatrical extreme-vocal cameo
- Folk 3 — Vintage Mellotron, Hammond organ and harmonica lend a 1970s folk-prog texture
- Ambient 2 — Atmospheric passages surface within the prog/black metal fusion
MEMBERS
- Lars Fredrik Frøislievocals, drums, keyboards, harmonica, guitar, bass· also in Angst Skvadron
- Raymond Haakenrudguitar
- Marius Olaussenbaritone guitar
CONNECTIONS
- Angst Skvadronpath →
Trond Bråthen (Trondr Nefas) and Lars Fredrik Frøislie are core members of both Angst Skvadron and In Lingua Mortua. source ↗
- Shining (Norway)path →
Jørgen Munkeby of Shining (Norway) guested on saxophone and bass clarinet on Salon des Refusés (2010) source ↗
- Alfa Obscurapath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Alfa Obscura's "Plutonian Shores" (2011, Design, Photography By). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Arcturuspath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Arcturus's "Sideshow Symphonies" (2005, Design, Photography By). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Dødheimsgardpath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Dødheimsgard's "Supervillain Outcast" (2007, Artwork, Design). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Fleuretypath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Fleurety's "Ingentes Atque Decorii Vexilliferi Apokalypsis" (2009, Design). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Ihsahnpath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Ihsahn's "The Adversary" (2006, Design). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Manimalismpath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): Manimalism's "Demo Sessions 1996-1998" (2015, Design, Image Editor) and In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Mayhempath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Mayhem's "Ordo Ad Chao" (2007, Artwork). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Peccatumpath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Peccatum's "Lost In Reverie" (2004, Design). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Shining (Sweden)path →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Shining (Sweden)'s "Redefining Darkness" (2012, Artwork). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Solefaldpath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Solefald's "Red For Fire - An Icelandic Odyssey Part I" (2005, Design, Photography By). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Sturmgeistsatellitepath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Sturmgeist's "Manifesto Futurista" (2009, Cover, Design). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Ulver (electronic era)path →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Ulver (electronic era)'s "Svidd Neger (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" (2003, Cover). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
- Yureipath →
Both bands' cover art/design work was done by Trine + Kim Design Studio (Trine Paulsen and Kim Sølve, Oslo; Discogs artist id 1912469): In Lingua Mortua's "Salon Des Refusés" (2022 Repose Records vinyl edition, Cover) and Yurei's "Night Vision" (2012, Design). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Trine + Kim Design Studio is not an atlas band so there is no anchor band. source ↗
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- UnaffiliatedEI 18Neon ScaffoldJazzyBlackTechnical
Neon Scaffold is a Russian avant-garde/blackened metal project from Sergiyev Posad, Moscow Oblast, formed in 2018 by musicians drawn from Cage of Creation, Zatemno, and Licho. Their sound mixes jazz-inflected walking bass and saxophone with dissonant, folk-rooted black metal riffing; their 2025 album Noir (Pest Productions) followed a 2020 split, Konflikt, with Polish band Gruzja.
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 19FleuretyBlackTechnicalJazzy
Formed in 1991 by Alexander Nordgaren and Svein Egil Hatlevik, Fleurety began as a conventional Norwegian black metal band before radically expanding its palette: Min Tid Skal Komme (1995) folded in atonal harmonics and folk elements, and Department of Apocalyptic Affairs (2000) - produced by Ulver's Kristoffer Rygg - spans metal, jazz, trip-hop and electronica. Both records leaned heavily on the Norwegian avant-garde scene for guest performers, pulling in Mayhem's Hellhammer and Maniac, Ulver's Rygg (as vocalist "G. Playa") and Tore Ylwizaker on programming, Arcturus/Winds' Steinar "Sverd" Johnsen, and Borknagar's Knut Magne Valle; a later 2009 EP brought in Mayhem's Hellhammer and Necrobutcher again alongside Thorr's Hammer vocalist Runhild Gammelsæter.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13Quest for BloodJazzyBlackTechnical
Quest for Blood is a Tokyo black-metal project that grew out of the band Magane (two albums, 1999 and 2003), and in 2005 began collaborating with Yukihiro Isso, heir to a 16th-century lineage of Japanese Noh-flute players. Their 2008 joint album on Ektro Records (Finland) threads Isso's nohkan, shinobue and tsunobue lines through shrieked/howled black-metal vocals and free-jazz-inflected keyboard work, landing somewhere between extreme metal, free improvisation, and classical Noh theater music. Reviewers single out the flute as no gimmick — a genuinely 'hyperkinetic' voice sitting dead-center in the compositions rather than an ornamental one.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11ArkhethJazzyBlackTechnical
Arkheth is the long-running (2001-present) Australian project of Tyrone 'Tyraenos' Kostitch, now a one-man vehicle for symphonic-turned-experimental black metal after growing out of the Orange, NSW band Eternal Dark. Its 2018 high point, 12 Winter Moons Comes the Witches Brew, folds saxophonist Glen Wholohan's honking, Contortions-indebted jazz lines into black-metal songwriting critics have dubbed 'an inverted Shining' -- black metal wading into jazz rather than the reverse. It is one of the more distinctive jazz/black-metal hybrids operating outside the Norwegian axis the label comparison implies.
- UnaffiliatedEI 14AenaonBlackTechnicalJazzy
Aenaon is a Greek avant-garde/progressive black metal band from Ioannina, formed in 2005 and signed to Agonia Records. Mastermind Achilleas C. (also of Varathron and Katavasia) leads the band with drummer Haris (Varathron), vocalist Astrous (Katavasia) and saxophonist Orestis Zyrinis, whose horn work gives their dark, noir-tinged black metal a distinctive jazz-inflected edge, as heard on 2022's 'Mnemosyne.'
- Norwegian avant-blackEI 19IhsahnBlackTechnicalJazzy
Vegard Sverre Tveitan, known as Ihsahn, is the Norwegian guitarist/vocalist of the seminal black metal band Emperor (not currently an E.M.M.A. node) who since 2006 has built an acclaimed solo catalogue blending black metal with progressive rock, industrial and free-jazz textures - most notably via saxophonist Jorgen Munkeby of Shining (Norway). He co-founded the avant-garde project Peccatum with his wife Heidi 'Ihriel' Solberg Tveitan, guested on Arcturus's 'The Sham Mirrors,' and hosted Ulver/Arcturus/Borknagar vocalist Kristoffer Rygg on his own debut. His Hardingrock side project fuses traditional Norwegian Hardanger-fiddle folk music with metal.
- UnaffiliatedEI 18Alkuharmonian KantajaBlackTechnicalJazzy
Alkuharmonian Kantaja are an avant-garde black metal quartet from Oulu, Finland, founded in 2020 by J. Usurper with S. Redeemer (drums) and Swiss-based D. Harbinger (keys). Their I, Voidhanger-released debut Shadowy Peripherals (2021) draws critical comparisons to 1990s Norwegian avant-prog black metal acts like Ved Buens Ende, splicing jazz, folk, and classical fragments into spitfire riffing and clean-toned synth melancholy.
- UnaffiliatedEI 9KexelürBlackTechnicalJazzy
Kexelür is a Santiago, Chile trio formed around 2021 playing atmospheric, dissonant, and psychedelic black metal built around free improvisation. Their releases are billed as largely improvised live sessions, with reviewers noting 'jazz fusion inspired soloing/leads' layered over the black metal foundation. The band communicates only through single-letter pseudonyms (Λ., V., J.), with Λ. also running the solo project Fatalys (not in the E.M.M.A. atlas).
- UnaffiliatedEI 16Steve BlancoJazzyTechnicalBlack
Steve Blanco is the bassist and keyboardist of New York avant-garde metal act Imperial Triumphant, but his solo catalog runs on piano: the jazz-rooted Steve Blanco Trio records (Contact, Piano Warrior) gave way to increasingly extreme solo works like Misztikus and 2026's Shadow Arc Suite. The latter pairs virtuosic, Coltrane-indebted improvisation and modernist/serialist piano writing with programmed blast beats, atonal guitar, and ambient textures — an 'extreme ensemble' piece dragging free jazz and metal violence into the same room.
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 13VainaBlackTechnicalJazzy
Vaina is an active Finnish avant-garde black metal project (formed by siblings in 2014) whose records braid raw black-metal riffing and shrieked/growled vocals with flute, horns, strings, choral and clean singing, and dense ambient/noise passages — critics have compared the effect to Dead Can Dance colliding with black metal. Sung entirely in Finnish, releases run from the 2017 EP Viisikärki through 2024's Unio Mystica (Aesthetic Death, UK).