Today, Poets of the Fall, the incredible band behind Old Gods of Asgard, celebrated their twenty-first anniversary!
While their debut album, Signs of Life, didn't get released until 2005, the band considers their real start to be the launch of Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, which spotlighted their first single, Late Goodbye.
The milestone is an impressive achievement for the group, which seems to be constantly going from strength to strength. In this past seven months alone, they released their debut OGoA album Rebirth - The Greatest Hits, celebrated the success of Alan Wake 2 which introduced them to a new audience, and performed as the fictional band live on stage for the first time at The Game Awards 2023 with Herald of Darkness.
The band celebrated the milestone with a special tweet, writing, "Today we are officially twenty one years old! 🥳 That is old enough to... rock and roll?! 🤘🎸 As always, a million thanks to all of you, from new friends to everyone who has been with us since the beginning. Keep it up & rock on! ❤️" The status was accompanied by a photograph (included below) of the band's vocalist, Marko Saaresto, by local photographer Tiia Öhman.
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Remedy x Poets of the Fall's History: Although two of the band members were involved in Remedy's original Max Payne title, officially, the band's relationship started back in 2003 with Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. For the game, Poets created their first song, Late Goodbye, based on a poem by Sam Lake, after a conversation between Marko and Sam about the formation of his new group.Almost a decade later, the band returned for the studio's next game, Alan Wake, creating the custom songs, The Poet and the Muse and Children of the Elder God, under their alter-ego, Old Gods of Asgard. Their song War, from their album Twilight Theater, also made an appearance in the game. They returned again two years later for Alan Wake's American Nightmare, with the songs Balance Slays the Demon and The Happy Song (the latter also appearing in the album Temple of Thought). Around the same time, Can You Hear Me, created as an exclusive single to their Alchemy Vol 1 collection, also appeared in the studio's debut mobile game, Death Rally.
After Alan Wake, while they still worked alongside the studio, issues outside of both parties' control led to the absence of a unique track within Quantum Break. Although players can still hear elements in the reworked version of The Labyrinth, heard in the Clearview album. It was only in 2019's Control that the band and studio were able to work once again, bringing Take Control to the table, used during the Control's memorable Ashtray Maze sequence, along with Ultraviolet's The Dark Disquiet making an appearance.
For Alan Wake 2, the band is back with three unique songs, and the band taking on a more concrete form, stepping in as members of the Old Gods of Asgard band. Dark Ocean Summoning, Herald of Darkness, and Anger's Remorse all feature in the 2023 adventure, but fans were treated to the band's debut album, Rebirth - The Greatest Hits, which launched just after their live performance debut on The Game Awards stage.
