Darkplace returns with Maran, the second single from the forthcoming album About Nordic Folklore, due for digital release on March 6th, 2026 via Icons Creating Evil Art. The single arrives January 9th, 2026, continuing Darkplace’s exploration of the darker beings of Nordic myth and oral tradition.

Where previous single Näcken lurked beneath the surface of dark waters, Maran enters the most intimate and unsettling territory of all: the bedroom, the dream, the breath itself. In Nordic folklore, the Mare (or Mara) is a nocturnal spirit that visits sleepers, sitting on their chest, twisting dreams into terror and leaving its victims paralysed and gasping for air.

“Maran is about what slips through keyholes and cracks. She comes while you sleep, riding the chest, stealing breath, turning dreams into nightmares.”

Traditionally, the Mare could be warded off by forcing her into an impossible task — a ritual echoed in the song’s incantatory refrain:

“mara mara minne, du får ej bli här inne,
förren du räknat fåglar i skog, fiskar i flod,
alla eketrär och guds ord.”

Musically, Maran unfolds as a slow, oppressive descent. Mechanical pulses and shadowy electronics intertwine with ritualistic melodies and organic textures, shaped by Darkplace’s signature bowed guitar and bass. Drawing influence from artists such as Ulver and Swans, the track mirrors the experience it depicts — hypnotic, claustrophobic, and impossible to fully escape.

This is the most electronically driven and physically resonant track on the album. A heavy, chest-felt bass anchors the song, designed to embody the crushing weight of the Mare herself. The introduction, built like a distorted lullaby, serves as a deliberate contrast — an unsettling calm before the terror takes hold. Horror film enthusiasts may recognize a subtle homage to Rosemary’s Baby, reinforcing the song’s uneasy sense of innocence corrupted.

The album About Nordic Folklore is built around nine mythological creatures, each given their own presence and sonic identity. As with Darkplace’s previous work, the project extends beyond music into a broader artistic world of visual storytelling, atmosphere, and mythic excavation.

True to form, Darkplace remains anonymous — allowing the work itself to speak, breathe, and haunt.

LABEL CONTACT

Carl-Marcus Gidlöf
Head of the Snake
Icons Creating Evil Art
Råsundavägen 73, Solna
Sweden
cmg@icea.se