Can a challenge as rooted previously as Wardruna really be thought-about progressive? The Norwegian group utilise recreated Viking-era and Stone Age devices to discover historic cultural and mythological themes. This can be a place the place experimental archaeology meets pure creativity.
There are sounds and devices that distant ancestors might need been aware of, however organized and expressed in a manner which may by no means have been heard till the band spearheaded a burgeoning motion of Norse-inspired folks – and definitely not by trendy ears.
With no manner of realizing what music these ancients really created, Wardruna’s up to date imaginative and prescient marries subtlety and complexity to an elemental energy. Moments on sixth album Birna (named for a she-bear in previous Norse mythology) are sparse and easy – however these compositions are as meticulously constructed as any trendy prog opus.
The previous Nordic themes even have a timelessness that resonates via the ages. Having beforehand pored via runes and ravens, right here they take into account the bear and every little thing that it represents, symbolically and mythologically. Which may appear a slender focus, however via it they discover the cycle of the seasons and man’s relationship with nature – a topic as related as we speak because it ever was.
Given the bear’s status for savagery, Birna may have simply trod among the extra aggressive ritualistic paths which have endeared them to steel in addition to prog and folks followers. As an alternative, the vast majority of the album has an airier contact.
The title monitor revolves round Lindy-Fay Hella’s haunting vocals and shiny choral preparations, and there’s an early three-track set-piece that takes the listener into hibernation and again once more.
Ljos Til Jord (which interprets roughly as ‘Mild To Earth’) musically represents the transition from sunlit world to beneath the bottom whereas Dvaledraumar (‘Hibernation Dream’) is a 15-minute phase of discovered sounds and deep, trance-inducing atmosphere. Lastly, Jord Til Ljos (‘Earth To Mild’) returns to the floor with lovely strings and playful flutes welcoming the spring.
Himinndotter celebrates the notion of the bear’s legendary origin as a celestial being, with the voices of the Norwegian ladies’s choir Koret Artemis reaching as much as no matter heavens are acceptable. Hibjørnen gives a a lot sparser counterpoint, with chief visionary Einar Selvik evoking skaldic traditions with a easy vocal and plucked lyre accompaniment. The closing trio of songs do go deeper and darker, rounding off an album of extraordinary scope.
Birna is on sale now through Music For Nations/Sony.
