I know, I know, I am a prejudiced music buyer. I heard about this band with a band name and album title that are obviously pagan, but I also heard that these are (ex-)black metal musicians, so I no longer felt the need to hear “Runaljod”. Wardruna happen to play at a festival in Tilburg where also Der Blutharsch and a couple of other bands that I want to see play (but not on the same day…), so I figured I might just try what this band is all about. Wardruna is nothing like neofolk like pagan music, but has a more traditional and also a more ritual or sjamanistic sound. Perhaps a tiny little bit like the early releases of Hagalaz’ Runedance, but more sedate. There is a nice mix between traditional and electronic sounds, variety in the use of vocals (from chanting to speech), soft drumming, but also some darker experiments. “Runaljod” might not be a masterpiece, but this is actually quite a nice album.
Links: Wardruna, Fimbuljóð Productions
haha nice to see we got you to listen new music 🙂 Maybe the record will grow on you, that’s what happened to me. I’m very exited to see them in September, to see if the vibe of the album can be repeated (or be even deeper) live.
I listen to a lot of new music (just check out those electropunk releaeses that I reviewed a while ago and the “blog” with gothabilly, etc.), but I have an unnatural aversion against most metal and metal-related music… That is to say, these releases have no priority.