WARDRUNA : RUNALJOD : GAP VAR GINNUNGA
Indie Recordings
Wardruna is Kvitrafn’s Norse folk-ambient project; I can imagine a number of true black metallers howling outraged at the moon when first they heard his compositions, having been lured towards the campfire by the reputation of the artist and his collaborator Gaahl. However, if such grim ones stopped for a moment to listen, I’m sure the very uniqueness and eerie power of “Gap Var Ginnunga” instantly won them over.
The album is the first part of a trilogy that will explore the meanings and resonances of the elder Norse runes. With such a mystical and rich subject matter, it’s fitting that Kvitrafn has sought to revive relevant Norse musical arts, such as the traditional, shamanistic singings styles adopted by both the male voices and contributor Lindy Fay Hella, whose heart-felt ululations really pierce the soul. The compositions have been recorded largely out of doors, and a host of ancient instruments, such as hoof rattles, cow horns, mouth harps and various hide-strung drums, are employed over a sensible and subtle synth base, so that the process of creating the music became the very ritual it set out to describe.
Obviously such a venture is incredibly ambitious; I can’t personally attest to how it pays off for a rune-reader, but for a lay person “Gap Var” is a very intense listening experience. The combination of insistent, primal beats, naturalistic elemental sounds and the sad, gripping tones of the traditional hardangar fiddle summons a magnificently strong ghost of the past. “Bjarkan”, despite its use of the generally cheery mouth-harp, is one such sad song, whilst “Heimta Thurs” brings a flurry of activity, before the drama and confusion of “Thurs” itself. The weather, birds, stones and footsteps add unexpected density to what evolves into a thoroughly engaging and expectation-confounding album.
Such is the nature of my daily commute, I listened to much of this album for the first time whilst driving across the sites of Fulford Gate and Stamford Bridge, where the Saxons repelled England’s last significant Scandinavian invaders in the ill-fated year of 1066. Even at that remove, I had powerful chills in my spine with the eerie, mystical warcries and drones of “Thurs” echoing around; listen to “Gap Var Ginnunga” at the head of a fjord, and I should imagine its potent evocation of heritage would be overwhelming. This album is a unique and spiritual listening experience, which should not be missed by anyone with an interest in folk-ambience, runes or saga-telling.
89/100
ELLEN SIMPSON
