In one of her latest blogs Kati Rán wondered what the future holds for pagan folk. Well, judging by the music of new bands like Noiduin, Furda and STFUR, the future looks really bright. Dutch band Laguz is another new star on the pagan folk horizon. And their debut album A View From Down Below certainly deserves an in-depth review. And we here at CeltCast predict this band to have a very bright future ahead of them.

Just a few notes into opening track Io Evohe and I already know one thing fur sure. A View From Down Below just oozes neo-pagan folk. All the ingredients are there: An almost drone-like hurdy-gurdy tune, supported by rattles and percussion giving this song a real archaic, tribal feel; background laughter that instantly pulls my imagination into an enchanted forest; a mesmerising hand flute mimicking the sound of an owl, luring you in, weaving in and out of the music like morning mist jumping from tree to tree in the wakening forest. Or are they night spirits returning to their boroughs? And these are only the first few seconds of the song! Vocals come in, chanting, giving the song a spiritual feel even strengthened by the throat-singing backing vocals. Yet the rhythm of the percussion, the flute wondering through the sound like a breeze in the air, the laughter in the background make Io Evohe sound light and lovely and captivating. It sounds like we are in for a feast, and this is just the intro to the album. I’m already intrigued. What will be next?

While my mind is still floating on the last enticing notes of Io Evohe, the first notes of the second song Bacchanalia already kick in. Totally taking me by surprise but also fully engaging me in the album at the same time. Well done by the brothers Kasper and Samuel de Vries who recorded and mixed this album together. Gone is the mysterious feel of the intro. The sound is now open, with lots of space for all the instruments. A sound that Laguz maintains throughout the whole album.
The band leads me down into a beautiful Balkanesque instrumental tune. One after another, all the instruments take the lead. Their solos, melodies and improvisations luring me in deeper and deeper. With my headphones on I’m totally emerged in this wonderful melody. The notes are constantly dancing together, interacting, calling, responding, flowing in and around each other like leaves falling down in a breeze. I’m really loving this. Overall, the song feels open, friendly and light, but don’t be fooled. A sudden break takes the sound from a lovely Balkanesque-meets-SeeD vibe into a rawer Rastaban Arise feel, just to flow into a catchy Twigs & Twine-like sound… …and then the song becomes a beast of its own. Dark, klezmer-like violin improvisations give me the first shivers of excitement. As the flute leads us back to the main theme — now fully matured — I know we are in for something good. Something really special.

The third song How Curious the Light Behaves confirms that. Again, I get that whiff of klezmer as I listen to the chalumeau intro. The longing oozing out of every note that is played. How Curious The Light Behaves is inspired by a poem and you can hear that. Vocalist Samuel de Vries has the voice of a bard, full of emotion and warmth. The perfect interpreter for this beautiful Irish poem by an unknown writer. The band accompanies his words brilliantly. Their notes wrapping around his words like a cloak. Strengthening their meaning, becoming a poem itself as the song goes and goes. The instrumental break is a thing of beauty. It starts as a beautiful duet between recorder and chalumeau, but one by one, the other instruments flow in, and a choir brings it all to a wonderful climax before the song falls back into its original form. Just a voice, a violin and a guitar. Well done! This is something else.

By now I really want to know who this band is. Where did they come from? How can a debut album be this good? Time to dive into their Biography:
‘Formed in 2012 in the south of The Netherlands, Laguz started out as an acoustic pagan-folk band, inspired by folkloric traditions, early music, and artists like Faun and Loreena McKennitt. Over time, their sound has grown into something deeper and more atmospheric, but still grounded. Music that looks back, without getting stuck in the past.
Their songs are mostly original, though they occasionally rework traditional pieces. The lyrics flow between English and other European languages, and the themes often touch on nature, pre-Christian spirituality, and old ways of being. Their name, taken from the rune Laguz, reflects that spirit of flow—emotional, intuitive, always moving.
In 2023, they released their first single, Minne, and followed it up a year later with their debut album A View from Down Below — a moody, intimate journey through Mediterranean heat and northern forests.‘

Well… I don’t have much to add to that. Their biography sums the band up perfectly. Several band members were or are involved in other bands and projects, mostly party folk and folk metal bands, so they are definitely not new to the scene and you can hear that. But although they brought the experience of working on those other project with them, Laguz is certainly not the sum of those other bands. There is not a heavy or party note in sight here! No, Laguz is something unique. Although clearly oozing pagan folk with every note they play, I cannot point it down to another specific band. Laguz has their very own sound. They sound like Laguz! And that’s the biggest compliment I can give them. And I’m only at song three, there is so much more to come!
To Mimir, for instance, is a beautiful harp ballad, again starting small but ending in a grand sound.
There is Treelore: a ‘power’ ballad that reminds me a bit of Emian’s Spirit trail. Especially because singer Samuel de Vries and Danilo Lupi (Edea, ex-Emian) have the same type of sound.

Lunaria is another lovely song. Starting nice and catchy, but developing into a beautiful pagan folk pearl. Big, bold, full of details, but always open and pleasant. The song feels like a Northern forest brook streaming through an Eastern Mediterranean paradise garden filled with butterflies. Gentle, calming, pleasant, but once you start to really listen there is so much sparkling detail in there. Like candy for the ears.

This album just flows and flows and flows. Every song gets its time to grow into a beautiful entity. Nothing is rushed. No note sounds out of place and all the musicians are to be commended for their skills. They feed off of each other. Each solo seems to flow out of the previous one, as if it’s an endless dance of notes and skills. Laguz’ music ‘travels’ from note to note, from place to place. And we are but Nomads traveling with it. Drifting on the calm power of this beautiful, poetic CD.

Cliff

Editor: Iris
Album cover: Kasper de Vries
Photography: Karlijn Groenendijk

Laguz can be found here:

Reviewer’s note:
Those of you who’ve already bought this album may have noticed that my comparisons and descriptions are different from those that the band give in their comments liner notes that goes with the CD. That is because I always listen to an album first, without reading any information, to be as open-minded as possible. So the comparisons are my own. They are my interpretation of the music Laguz makes. They are my own dreams an thoughts. But that is the cool thing, isn’t it? That everybody will dream their own dream while listening. It is also the magic of A View From Down Below, that the band managed to take make me dream. Trust me, these songs will take you places. So close your eyes and start dreaming. Flow away with the melodies. May it take you to your own place of peace and beauty. Just as it did with me.