Ages of swords may one day perish but its legacy will forever reign in the eternity of Valhalla– or so I think. Skálmöld, whose name literally translates as Age of Swords, are back on leading yet another Viking battle, with their highly anticipated sixth full-length album entitled Ýdalir (Napalm Records), which has released some other Nordic folk/viking metal counterparts as well such as Brymir and Månegarm.
Check out our new Reaction video! Keefy reacts to Amon Amarth’s recent new single and video – “Get in The Ring,” out now via Metal Blade Records, and pre-order their new album The Great Heathen Army, belowContinue reading
The intersection of Norse-Pagan culture, ancient dark folk music, and metal will take place once again at this summer’s Midgardsblot. Taking place in Norway, 17-20th of August, Ghost Cult is happy to see the return of this essential festival we have covered in the past. Among the headline acts this year are acclaimed acts such as Wardruna, Heilung, Rotting Christ, Myrkur, Zeal and Ardor, Borknagar, Primordial, Einherjer, Arkona, Lindy Fay Hella, Ragnarok, Helheim, Djevel, Urgehal, Koldbran, Konvent, Nytt Land, Kælan Mikla, Gaerra, Lucifer’s Child, Eivør, and more artists to be announced. The festival also includes actors and historical reenactments, seminars, and more! Tickets and camping accomodations are on sale at the link below.
Myrkur has contributed her incredible voice to the soundtrack of the new Netflix series Vikings Valhalla, now streaming its entire first season. The show is the direct sequel to Vikings the award-winning series on History Channel which concluded last year. Myrkur contributed her vocals to what became the theme song of the series, although at the time she was unaware of that fact. Produced by Michael Hirst and Jeb Stuart and starring Sam Corlett, Leo Suter, and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson; Vikings Valhalla is set 100 years afterward and centering on the adventures of Leif Erikson, Freydis, Harald Hardrada and the
Getting fully back into concert mode has been fun, but also scary on some levels as a fan. I need live music in my life, bad, but I am nervous around small clubs and tons of people right now, since the pandemic is still a thing. Nevertheless, I got the opportunity to cover legends like Black Label Society, Obituary, and Prong all at the same show, no less, and so I had to handle my emotions and nerves (I have pretty bad anxiety on the reg) and trooped out to Sacramento’s respected Ace of Spades club.
Whenever the subject of influential Viking metal rears its head from beneath freezing, storm-ridden waves, Dragons of the North (Napalm Records) by Norwegian act Einherjer usually finds its way into the conversation fairly quickly. Released in 1996, the record still remains a favourite among fans of the excessively hairy subgenre, and twenty-five years later the band are still going strong.
Viking Metal started out by combining the epic energy of Black Metal with the mystical grace of Folk music. Enslaved is a band at the pinnacle of this heavy, Nordic sound. Starting out as teenagers, this Norweigian act has successively enhanced the Scandinavian metal scene for nearly thirty years. Their beginnings were more in the realm of the extreme, but over time Enslaved has not been afraid to dip into other genres like Prog Rock and Jazz. It’s encouraging to witness their ability to be undaunted by their explorations while still being true to their Viking roots. Their new fifteenth full-length album, Utgard (Nuclear Blast) verifies their astute ambition of experimentmentation and expression.
Acclaimed Norwegian dark folk outfit Wardruna’s Einar Selvik’s recent single from the have shared a lyric video from Assassin’s Creed, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – “Hrafnsmál – The Words of the Raven”. The track is from the recent EP Out of the North, which features seven tracks from the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla soundtrack including Selvik’s track. The lyric video premiered at Revolver which you can see below with Selvik’s commentary. Out of the North was released digitally by Lakeshore Records on July 17th and also includes music by the Assassin’s Creed franchise’s core composers Jesper Kyd and Sarah Schachner..Continue reading
Wadruna mastermind Einar Selvik– the Norwegian composer, musician who use of a wide range of old Nordic instruments and lyrics placed in a contemporary soundscape to musically interpret Old Norse and Nordic traditions-was enlisted to work on the score for the next installment of the Assassin’s Creed® franchise, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla alongside BAFTA Award-winning Danish composer Jesper Kyd (Assassin’s Creed, Ezio Trilogy) and American composer Sarah Schachner (Assassin’s Creed Origins). In partnership with Ubisoft, Lakeshore Records today (July 17) have released a seven-track EP of original music taken from the forthcoming official soundtrack Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla-Out Of The North which features SELVIK‘s track “Hrafnsmál – The Words of the Raven.” The track was premiered yesterday (July 16) via Loudwire who lauded its “stirring musical soundscape.Continue reading
Exciting news from the gaming world as world-renowned musician and composer Einar Selvik of Wardruna is working on the score to the upcoming game Assasin’s Creed Valhalla, due out in time for the holidays, 2020. Selvik announced he would co-compose the score, alongside the game’s composers Sarah Schachner and Jesper Kyd. Metal fans who gravitate to all things Norse will love the new game’s direction. In addition to Wardruna and collaborative projects with Enslaved’s Ivar Bjornson, original music by Selvik and Wardruna have both been used on History’s Channel’s hit series Vikings, which Einar is a composer on. He has also appeared on the show in the past. New music and tours are coming from Wardruna as well. We have interviewed Einar several times on the subject of his composing work. Continue reading