Wardruna "Kvitravn" (2021)

 

These Norwegian musicians have been reviving their heritage for years now, utilizing historical instruments to ignite the flames of their viking ancestry. The last outing, Skald, was a performance piece of sorts, poetical recitals and minimalist accompaniment that failed to spark excitement with this listener. Kvitravn is a return to norms yielding a similar problem as its now established and familiar aesthetic passes without a gust of anything to break its gloomy droning march. Don't get me wrong, what these musicians achieve is beautiful and visionary but as there persona becomes expectant, groups like Heilung thrill with their claws lurching into the shadows and pulling out blinding horrors of ancient darkness.

Kvitravn plays with the same drudging pace. A weighty gloomy hangs overhead as the cold winds and constant rain batters its human inhabitants. Peering into a re-imagined past, Wardruna captures the spirit of burdensome life, one of hard work and death with a spiritual closeness to mother nature. Its songs tend to find different ways to this same macabre march of dragging heels and achy backs as its thick drone of flawed and aged instruments is led by the reluctant pattering percussion of bearskin drums, pulling the music along. Once established song meanders in its particular arrangement, circling the same rhythm and musical ideas over and over again.

 Its on inspection that its repetitious nature becomes obvious. Trying to gleam out moments or details that sparkle, perhaps only the haunting choral cries of Viseveiding stand out. Without such critical ears it is all to easy to fall into its spell, the dull drones of blunted instruments become the curtaining atmosphere to bring about a subdued meditative state. In its mild gloom many moments feel ephemeral as its range of cultural voices sing Nordic tales, hardships and occasionally dive into the hysteria of softly guttural chants. The human voice is the element that ties the music together but as already expressed it is the puritanical approach that gives it little leverage over their previous output. For now I will put this record down and whenever in need of that nostalgic viking majesty, I may resurrect it for the dusky tone it conjures.

Rating: 6/10

Wardruna "Skald" (2018)

Having enjoyed the Nordic ambience and cultural folk of Runaljod, I brought this album without a first listen. Its a departure from what I remember as Skald trades off depth and indulgence for a grounded minimalism that far better represents what this may have one sounded like. Einar Selvik stands as a dominate presence, a lone ancestral voice to guide us through the echos of heritage and its accompanying instrumentation, of which there is little. Naked and bare, his language is sung with inflections and an honest rawness to invoke what may have been in centuries past.

Purely by impression, his performance resembles runic scriptures and handed down heathen hymns. The poetry of cultures lost to time. His lone voice holds strong as simple single stringed instrument melodies repeat to set the tone. Only on Vindavla do the instruments switch to bring a darker, tense tone as the Lute alike instrument mostly delivers soothing and warm music. One can envision Nordic ancestors sat around a campfire as they exchange stories and sing poetry together.

At its end the record dulls with a fifteen minute accapella. His isolated voice not as charming alone. On my first few listens I struggled to be sucked in to this world but with patience it grew a little. The fault is probably with my own preferences as a richer instrumentation would have lured me in and cultural hymns are often not to my liking through human voice alone. It is however a remarkable performance in the right mood, a soothing and spiritual listen that will evoke historical echos of our humanity.

Rating: 5/10

Wardruna "Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga" (2009)

"Sound of runes, the gap was yawning" is the translated title of this fogy, foreboding record by Nordic Folk group "Wardruna" who formed in 2003 with a vision of creating music and sounds to captivate Norwegian heritage, Norse Mythology and nostalgia of forgotten times through Ambient music. The group distinctively pass the mark of general musical ambiance, creating wildly vivid and transforming soundscapes that paint a dark and tribal vision of cold, unforgiving north.

The record is ripe with cultural instruments, tribal chants and enchanting vocal choirs that play over a rigid backbone of foggy, dense violin-like sounds and the deep pulse of the drum that keeps pace in the backdrop. The sound is lush, capable of igniting the imagination for tribal life and mystic mythology in the snowbound Norwegian landscapes. The detail going as far to include the sounds of birds singing, and crows squawking in the distance as the sounds grow into visions of ritualistic behavior and worship of ancient gods.

The record has a powerful, and obvious drone as the feel of one song flows into the next, the pounding drum guiding the way, never giving in to any dramatic experimentation beyond the scope. Wardruna have a clear vision thats executed exquisitely. Its strengths make it a fine record when in the right mood, in others its droning nature and rigidity leave it a little dry and uneventful, but thats clearly not the intention. Every droning moment paints the abandon of vast empty landscapes and brings us closer to our mercy of nature. With caring production capturing the charm of the instruments and cultural voices "Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga" throws the listener deep into a vision of the past through the eyes retrospect and romances with the times forever lost.

Rating: 7/10