Best known as the frontman of Finntroll, Finnish metal veteran Mathias Lillmåns is stepping into new territory with the announcement of his upcoming solo album. The first taste of the record arrives in the form of In Glorious Black and White, released alongside an official music video through Stormbound Records.

Far from a traditional black metal release, the single pushes Lillmåns’ sound into darker and more experimental territory, combining raw black metal intensity with electronic textures and atmospheric production. The track was created together with outside producers for the first time in his career — a process the musician initially approached with hesitation.

“The idea of working with an outside producer felt contradictory to how I had always worked before,” Lillmåns admits. “But we agreed from the beginning that everything would happen at my own pace and under full creative control.”

Lyrically, In Glorious Black and White dives deep into existential themes and introspection.

“I’ve always been a very introspective lyricist,” he explains. “The song was born somewhere between my own perception and something unnamed — moments that eventually became real sources of inspiration.”

The upcoming album is also being created in an unconventional way. Instead of recording everything in one continuous session, the material is being built song by song, allowing different session musicians to contribute depending on each track’s needs.

Drums on the new single were performed by Tommi Tuhkala, while production duties were handled by Daniel Strang and Marco Luponero. The mixing and mastering were completed by Grammy-winning engineer Henkka Niemistö.

The project grew organically after the release of last year’s retrospective compilation Remains, which revisited material spanning three decades of Lillmåns’ musical career.

“I never really intended to start a solo project,” he says. “But while going through old material for Remains, I realized I had many unfinished ideas that could truly become something new.”

The release of In Glorious Black and White marks the beginning of a bold new chapter for one of Finland’s most recognizable extreme metal voices.