Nordic Giants have closed the book on their early work via a new anthology with a difference. Origins takes a deep-dive into the duo’s past with a reworked selection of their singles and EPs that escalates their otherworldly soundscapes to another level. But does this mean the duo are hanging up their masks for good? Absolutely not!
There’s a lot to upack with Nordic Giants. Foremost is the music: ululating soundscapes of extraordinary power and dynamic range, instrumentals with a richly cinematic hue. Then there’s the immersive aspect of their live performances, wherein flashing strobes, carpets of fog and offbeat film projections help create a shifting dramatic theatre of the senses.
At the centre of all this are the mysterious Rôka and Löki, who hide their identities behind feathered masks, animal-skin costumes and capes. One presides over a keyboard, occasionally getting brassy with a trumpet. The other pounds away on drums or straps on a guitar – sometimes playing it with a violin bow. They never speak onstage. You might think you’ve stepped into some druidic ceremonial ritual, a warrior symphony relayed by mythical creatures from Norse folklore. Some have even likened it to a religious experience.
The truth is a little more prosaic. Both Giants are British, for starters. And it was Brighton’s indie-rock scene, rather than some curious outpost of Northern Europe, that sired them. “When we started out, we were looking for ways to fill the void,” explains Rôka. “Löki is a filmmaker and I’m a film lover, so the visual aspect was something we talked about. Then the idea came to integrate films into our live shows.
“We’d both been in so many bands where you just walk onstage in your normal clothes, whereas the bigger acts are all dressed in something more elaborate. And I think we just took that idea to the extreme. We wanted people to go, ‘What the hell is this?!’”
“Chatting to the crowd between songs, trying to tell jokes or flog your merch never sat comfortably with us,” adds Löki. “Being able to do something more mysterious really appealed – where you’re just fully ingrained in the show.”
Nordic Giants have released three studio albums over the past decade. The fourth and latest, however, is a little different. Origins reaches back into their earlier recordings – 2010 EP A Tree As Old As Me, both sides of follow-up singles Shine and Speed The Crow’s Nest, plus a track from 2013’s Dismantle Suns EP – and frames them anew.
The duo revisited the original sessions and reworked certain elements using live strings, piano, synths, guitar and drums. The effect is spectacular, throwing the peaks and valleys of their sound into greater relief, and giving the songs the kind of visceral urgency (and subtle beauty) more akin to latterday Giants. To all intents and purposes, they’re self-curating; scaling themselves up.
“That first EP wasn’t actually recorded in the studio,” says Rôka. “It was recorded with one microphone, because we had very limited equipment. And it was the first thing that brought Nordic Giants together. We thought it’d be good to go back into these songs that we’ve been playing live for years, re-record them and have some fun. At the same time, we tried to keep them as true to the originals as possible.”
On some level, Origins feels like the closing of a chapter. “You could put it like that,” Rôka says. “The other thing was the inclusion of songs like Together, which was originally just a B-side, but which became one of our most-loved songs. It’s never been released before on vinyl, so it was a good excuse to get everything onto one neat package, something to celebrate the origins of Nordic Giants.”
It just came down to me and Rôka being the only ones that turned up at band practice; so we decided to form a two-piece
Löki
This is where things get a little cagey. Prog is obliged to keep the finer details of the Giants’ early days under a shroud of secrecy, as is their wish. Inevitably, it gives their story a nebulous quality, and also feeds into their shadowy creation myth.
The son of a folk singer, Löki spent his childhood “dragged around clubs, sleeping in the back of venues.” Unsurprisingly, it shaped his young musical life – he became proficient on a number of instruments, while nurturing an interest in filmmaking. By contrast, Rôka is from a non-musical family, but started on violin at six and began playing drums at 10.
“My mother wanted me to be a musician because she loved Elvis!” he says. “And once I’d discovered the drums, there was no going back. I’ve always been motivated by music, really.”
The pair first met on the East Sussex coast around 2010, playing together in a nine-piece band. There was no masterplan – rather, Nordic Giants happened by circumstance. “It just kind of came down to me and Rôka being the only ones that turned up at band practice,” explains Löki. “So we decided to form a two-piece.”
Out went the indie-rock, replaced by something more challenging and experimental. “Our guitarist in the nine-piece group had introduced us to a lot of music we didn’t know,” Rôka says. “Sigur Rós, This Will Destroy You and all the post-rock bands. We bonded around that; we’d both wanted to do something different, then stumbled upon post-rock and prog. And I guess we fell in love with it.”
Löki adds: “It was also that time in your 20s when you’re constantly exploring new stuff. I’ve always loved jazz and classical music as well, so we started to fuse all those influences together. And not being limited to a three-and-a-half-minute song gives you more room to make a story. It was perfect for us, I think.”
There’s more of a prog feel to the next album – It has a heavier vibe
Rôka
A key aspect of the Giants’ music is the assimilation of samples. Together, for instance, features Martin Luther King’s stirring ‘Beyond Vietnam’ address from 1967. Another Origins highlight, the epic Dark Clouds Mean War, plunders Rod Steiger’s abdication speech as Napoleon in 1970’s Waterloo. In the absence of lyrics, these elements bring a deeper intent to the Giants’ work.
As does the addition of guest vocalists: Origins includes memorable turns from Freyja, Cate Ferris, Jake Reid and Amdine – relatively obscure names dating back to their Brighton days. “A lot of these singers were just starting out or hadn’t done much previously,” says Rôka, “so they were all as mysterious as us. We really liked that about them.”
If Origins marks the end of a chapter, where does the next begin? It transpires that Nordic Giants are currently recording all-new songs. “Our albums always have many different styles going on, but I definitely think there’s more of a prog feel to this one,” says Rôka. “It has a heavier vibe.”
Löki adds: “The studio down in Eastbourne has a room packed full of vintage synths, so there’s lots of those on there, and also more organic sounds as well. And a lot of strings.”
Due for release around September, the as-yet-unnamed album will be accompanied by British dates at the end of the year. Rôka hopes February or March 2025 should see “a massive tour around Europe and the UK, supporting one of our early influences. But we won’t name who it is yet.”
In the meantime, the Giants toasted Origins’ arrival by sharing a collection of old gig photos, behind-the-scenes footage and – most intriguingly – a written saga that reveals undisclosed details about the pair, and a possible glimpse of the men behind the headdresses. They even toyed with the idea of unmasking themselves for Prog, only to decide against it. (Instead, we speak through audio-only Zoom.)
“This is one of the first interviews we’ve ever done, because we tend to stay away from all that,” Rôka explains. “But we know there’s only so far you can get with not doing anything on social media and staying off the internet. And being masked does limit you. At the same time, we’re leaving them on for now. We want to let the music speak for itself.”
