I have to run to the post office, so I'm going to try and make this brief and to the point. In between smoking poles and sniffing pickles Ghaal offers his "services" to the Norwegian folk ambient collective of Waldruna. The driving entity of this project is Kvitrafn, ex-drummer for Gorgoroth and Bak De Syv Fjell. Those of you who watched the Norwegian BM documentary on Ghaal sipping wine, and coercing pudgy journalists to his uncle's mountainside rectal rummaging retreat may be familiar with the feral soundscapes created by the various wind instruments, chants, and nature samples brought to sonic light by Kvitrafn. Folks, I shit you not, I listened to this album for the first time last night before I laid my head to rest, and I was whisked away to a fog ravaged Scandinavian thicket thousands of miles over yonder. The samples of rain, wind, and even a crack of thunder, (perhaps Ghaal smacking some ass), never comes off cheesy, as restraint is used in it's addition. The vocals are emanated by three sets of pipes, once again sparsely used at various intervals. Just enough to enhance and not detract from the ritualistic atmosphere created by the various flutes, horns, Ricky Ricardo bongo drums that are patted in tribal fashion, as a bound billy goat gets in his final bleat before the blade tickles his collar and dispatches him to pastures long forgotten. This is immense mates, think Stille Volk, while subtracting all the up tempo passages that give that band it's lambent luster. Friends, what we have here is a proposal to the elements that lay hidden in the night, a call to consummate with the stark rigors of the hunt. Highest Recommendation!
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About the band, from the band.
Wardruna is a Norwegian musical constellation set out to explore and evoke the depths of Norse wisdom and spirituality. Musically Wardruna has its main focus on the cultic musical language found in the near-forgotten arts of galder, seidr and the daily acts of the cultic life, mixed with impulses from Norwegian / Nordic folk music and music from other indigenous cultures.
The upcoming album entitled gap var Ginnunga will be the first in the planned Runaljod trilogy that will interpret the runes of the elder futhark. The subsequent albums will be entitled Yggdrasil and Ragnarok. Each album will feature eight runes, but not in accordance with the order of the three aettirs (families), which is most commonly used.
Recordings partly take place outdoors at locations relevant to the different runes. The instruments we use are mainly old and historical instruments, such as deer-hide frame drums and ceremonial drums, mouth harp, clove / hoof rattles from deer and goat, bone flute, goat and cow horns, Hardanger fiddle and bowed lyres. More unconventional inputs like trees, stones, water, fire etc. are also employed to enhance the nature of the rune being portrayed.
Keeping in mind that there will always be a certain room for disagreement and discussion when working with the runes, I would like to emphasize that in my songs it is not necessarily a goal for me to approach the respective rune from every conceivable angle, nor to cover all of the different aspects of it. Rather, the focus is on the core of each rune and the qualities that serve the whole concept and purpose of Wardruna best: sowing and nurturing new seeds and strengthening old roots!
Kvitrafn, 2007
Country - Norway
Genre - Folk/Ambient
Released - 2009
Label - Indie Recordings
http://www.wardruna.com/
Tracks 1-7
http://rapidshare.com/files/236085367/Wardruna_-_Runaljod_-_Gap_Var_Ginnunga_RC_.rar
For those who lack the initiative to dled the rar file
Early AOTY Candidate - 5 Stars!
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About the band, from the band.
Wardruna is a Norwegian musical constellation set out to explore and evoke the depths of Norse wisdom and spirituality. Musically Wardruna has its main focus on the cultic musical language found in the near-forgotten arts of galder, seidr and the daily acts of the cultic life, mixed with impulses from Norwegian / Nordic folk music and music from other indigenous cultures.
The upcoming album entitled gap var Ginnunga will be the first in the planned Runaljod trilogy that will interpret the runes of the elder futhark. The subsequent albums will be entitled Yggdrasil and Ragnarok. Each album will feature eight runes, but not in accordance with the order of the three aettirs (families), which is most commonly used.
Recordings partly take place outdoors at locations relevant to the different runes. The instruments we use are mainly old and historical instruments, such as deer-hide frame drums and ceremonial drums, mouth harp, clove / hoof rattles from deer and goat, bone flute, goat and cow horns, Hardanger fiddle and bowed lyres. More unconventional inputs like trees, stones, water, fire etc. are also employed to enhance the nature of the rune being portrayed.
Keeping in mind that there will always be a certain room for disagreement and discussion when working with the runes, I would like to emphasize that in my songs it is not necessarily a goal for me to approach the respective rune from every conceivable angle, nor to cover all of the different aspects of it. Rather, the focus is on the core of each rune and the qualities that serve the whole concept and purpose of Wardruna best: sowing and nurturing new seeds and strengthening old roots!
Kvitrafn, 2007
Country - Norway
Genre - Folk/Ambient
Released - 2009
Label - Indie Recordings
http://www.wardruna.com/
Tracks 1-7
http://rapidshare.com/files/236085367/Wardruna_-_Runaljod_-_Gap_Var_Ginnunga_RC_.rar
For those who lack the initiative to dled the rar file
Early AOTY Candidate - 5 Stars!
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