A suite of songs first performed in 2014 by Enslaved’s Ivar Bjørnson and Warduna’s Einar Selvik, in response to the 200th anniversary of Norway’s Christianity-cementing constitution, Skuggjsá has since expanded far beyond its origins, becoming both a rallying call for a new, more historically aware consciousness, an enrapturing, soon-to-be-released studio recording and the centrepoint for the London By Norse festival, which hits the capital this March.
An album that doesn’t just combine the full, febrile forces of Wardruna and Enslaved, but one that feels like an organic entity in its own right, Skuggjsá’s dynamics are the crosswinds where both the force of nature and internal, synapse-firing awakening meet, and the title track is a thrilling case in point. A track that ranges grows from butterfly-wing simplicity to full-blown, full-choir storm, it’s now found a visual accompaniment in the mesmerising form of a new video that we are giving a full premiere for here.
“The song Skuggsjá or ‘The Mirror’,” says Einar Selvik, “summons the listener to reflect. To ask, look and listen through the eyes and ears of past and present, as individuals first then as people. It’s about how we often timber our collective history on grounds shaped by religious or political agenda rather than reality and how that affects the solidness of its structure.”
Taking the theme of mirroring onboard, with flowing, symmetrical imagery that combines to kaleidoscopic effect, the video for Skuggjsá is pretty much 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Stargate reworked for pagan souls, so join the evolution and gaze spellbound into Skuggsjá below!
Invoke the Skuggjá Facebook page here!
Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik’s Skuggsjá is released on March 11 via Season Of Mist Records. Pre-order it in its many manifestations here!
And get all the details for London By Norse at the By Norse website here!
Wardruna's Einar Selvik reveals the roots of his Norse awakening
