Kicking off their world tour at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, Chelsea Wolfe delivered a mesmerizing performance as she opened for Wardruna. Her blend of Gothic Rock, Doom Metal, and Folk echoed hauntingly against the cliffs, creating a vibe uniquely suited to the venue.Continue reading
Though his musical output with Wardruna, his work on the score of History Channel’s hit show Vikings, his many collaborations with other bands and his solo work Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik has helped keep traditional Norse music alive. With Wardruna’s “Rune Trilogy” and most recently through his solo EP release Snake Pit Poetry (By Norse), Selvik continues to explore these ancient themes, but still relevant to our modern world through lyrics and instrumentation. By keeping some piece of this art in both worlds, he is also creating something new and fresh in the world of heavy music. Ghost Cult’s Keefy caught up with Einar before Wardruna’s New York City début at the prestigious Town Hall venue. He spoke of Wardruna fans, touring with fickle centuries-old instruments, his solo music, creating music for and appearing on Vikings and the next Wardruna album! Thanks to Heather Wilkerson for her Vi
deography and live photos from the show. Continue reading
In life as a music fan, and my career in music journalism I have seen countless shows. Add in the number of concerts I played in my feeble attempt at a music career, and that number jumps up a few notches. In that time I have been lucky to witness most of my favorite artists of all time in some shape or configuration. There are only a few of them left on the bucket list that I haven’t yet seen, or may never get to. However, I got to scratch a big one for me when Wardruna embarked upon their recent tour of the USA, only their second string of dates ever. Continue reading
The brainchild of Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Einar Selvik (Wardruna), Skuggsjá was a project created to celebrate the Bicentenary of the Norwegian Constitution, and ‘A Piece For Mind and Mirror’ (Season of Mist) is the result.
Of course, as everyone outside of Norway is well aware, the country’s two hundredth anniversary was actually back in 2014, and that was when Bjørnson and Selvik were initially approached to perform a collaborative piece at the Eidsivablot Festival in Eidsvoll, Norway (where else?). Going by the name Skuggsjá (which translates into ‘mirror’ or ‘reflection’), the pair decided the project deserved pursuing further. They performed together again at Roadburn Festival in 2015, with them secretly slipping into studios in and around Norway over the year to record material whenever possible.
Joined by the likes of Grutle Kjellson and Cato Bekkevold (Enslaved), Lindy-Fay Hella (Wardruna), and folk musicians Eilif Gundersen and Olav L Mjelva, the band have attempted to contextualise their brand of ‘harder’ music in the country’s two hundred years of history, looking at the cultural traditions and ideals of the nation and how relevant aspects of the past connect with the present. So, nice and easy then.
The band use traditional instruments (most of them handmade by Selvik himself, the multi-instrumentalist even going so far as to skin the hides of animals to make drums) such as the Birch-bark lure, Hardanger fiddle, bone-flute, Goat-horn, Kravik lyre, and Tagelharpa as well as all the usual instruments associated with the more contemporary genre of Black Metal. There are some modern electronics in there too, while the lyrics are a combination of early Scandinavian, Norwegian, and Norse.
This isn’t an album to be dissected track by track, but rather one that should be enjoyed as a whole, ideally listened to in a single sitting and free from distraction in order to fully absorb its magic. While relaxing during its more atmospheric parts, it’s easy to allow yourself to be transported to the edge of a cold Norwegian shoreline, looking out to sea as longboats silhouetted against the moonlit horizon move silently inshore, shrouded in a thick, ethereal fog. Er… well, anyway. It all sounds very, very Norwegian.
The heavier sections, most noticeable during ‘Rop Frå Røynda – Mælt Frå Minne’ and the ten and a half minute Bathory-esque ‘Skuggsjá‘, complement those instrumental, occasionally narrated parts perfectly, dropping in at the right moments, hitting you hard and never outstaying their welcome. Sometimes though, like with songs such as opener ‘Ull Kjem’, or closer ‘Ull Gjekk’, it’s the traditional instruments and different vocal styles, rather than the distorted guitars or blastbeats, which create the greatest, most lasting impact.
None more Norse.
8.5/10
GARY ALCOCK
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