Can a project as rooted in the past as Wardruna truly be considered progressive? The Norwegian group utilise recreated Viking-era and Stone Age instruments to explore ancient cultural and mythological themes. This is a place where experimental archaeology meets pure creativity.
There are sounds and instruments that distant ancestors might have been familiar with, but arranged and expressed in a way that might never have been heard until the band spearheaded a burgeoning movement of Norse-inspired folk – and certainly not by modern ears.
With no way of knowing what music those ancients actually created, Wardruna’s contemporary vision marries subtlety and complexity to an elemental power. Moments on sixth album Birna (named for a she-bear in old Norse mythology) are sparse and simple – but these compositions are as meticulously constructed as any modern prog opus.
The old Nordic themes also have a timelessness that resonates through the ages. Having previously pored through runes and ravens, here they consider the bear and everything that it represents, symbolically and mythologically. That might seem a narrow focus, but through it they explore the cycle of the seasons and man’s relationship with nature – a subject as relevant today as it ever was.
Given the bear’s reputation for savagery, Birna could have easily trod some of the more aggressive ritualistic paths that have endeared them to metal as well as prog and folk fans. Instead, the majority of the album has an airier touch.
The title track revolves around Lindy-Fay Hella’s haunting vocals and bright choral arrangements, and there’s an early three-track set-piece that takes the listener into hibernation and back again.
Ljos Til Jord (which translates roughly as ‘Light To Earth’) musically represents the transition from sunlit world to beneath the ground while Dvaledraumar (‘Hibernation Dream’) is a 15-minute segment of found sounds and deep, trance-inducing ambience. Finally, Jord Til Ljos (‘Earth To Light’) returns to the surface with beautiful strings and playful flutes welcoming the spring.
Himinndotter celebrates the notion of the bear’s mythical origin as a celestial being, with the voices of the Norwegian women’s choir Koret Artemis reaching up to whatever heavens are appropriate. Hibjørnen provides a much sparser counterpoint, with chief visionary Einar Selvik evoking skaldic traditions with a simple vocal and plucked lyre accompaniment. The closing trio of songs do go deeper and darker, rounding off an album of extraordinary scope.
Birna is on sale now via Music For Nations/Sony.
