Tag Archives: Nordic Folk

Noiduin – Korven Kolkon Kainalossa (2022)
Alinen (2023)

03 Mar
Cliff de Booy
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Noiduin is a Finnish dark folk band that I have been following since their debut EP Korven Kolkon Kainalossa came out in 2022. Fascinated by the sound of the jouhikko and Finnish folklore, founding member Jemina Kärvi started building her own instrument and writing her own music.
Over the last three years Noiduin has recorded two EP’s and 3 singles; they have gained more and more momentum among fans of Nordic folk music and the band itself has grown in numbers as well. The current line up consist of Jemina (Vocals, jouhikko); Henri (Vocals, jouhikko, kantele); Matilda (Vocals, jaw harp, percussion; Aila (Vocals, bowed monochord bass) and Mikko (Drums, percussion).
With a possible new album looming in the future it’s about time we finally guide you into the world of ancient Finnish musical folklore that is Noiduin.

The first notes on Tuulen Teitä, the opening song on the 2022 EP Korven Kolkon Kainalossa, immediately pulls you into Noiduin’s music. It sounds ancient, archaic, haunting and mythical. The sound of the jouhikko (a Finnish relative of the talharpa) is both eerie and beautiful. Using it as the lead instrument only accompanied by a wee bit of synths sweeps you right into the dark Finnish woods of 1500 years ago, when the Finnish people still lived their lives the old way, undisturbed by their Viking neighbours.
That eerie atmosphere is enhanced by Jemina’s whispered voice greeting the moon, the day and the air. The tastefully added choir and synth sounds make these opening bars sound as a blend of Cuelebre’s debut album and Waldkauz’s Mythos album but with a decisively Nordic feel to it. Especially the sound effects on the spoken word spells make me think of the Zwielicht (Twilight), the opening track on Mythos.

Now it’s in the nature of reviewers to look for comparisons in music. It is the easiest way to describe music to someone else using words. But with Noiduin that approach doesn’t work. They have their own unique sound. The themes, the instruments, the choirs and the vocals are all what you would expect from Nordic music. But the comparisons I’ve written down in my notebook while listening to Noiduin’s music are with Spanish bands: Cuelebre, Trobar de Morte, even Ritual Duir. The only exceptions where the Polish band Furda and the German band Waldkauz. So not a Nordic band in sight!

That’s because Noiduin just sounds different. They have their own unique style. It sounds ancient but fresh, with a cool danceable feel to it. Just listen to Karhun Synty. It has a tribal beat in it that instantly makes your feet wobble. A song like Käärmeen Synty from their second EP Alinen even sounds cheeky and fun. The rhythm urges you to dance. That infectious rhythm is carried through in the harsh spoken word vocals of Henri with a very cool call and answer section that is sooo catchy. Just like the vocals used by Furda. Jemina’s vocals dancing around Henri’s harsh vocals; sometimes whispered; sometimes harsh; sometimes in a yoik; sometimes in a full lead voice; sometimes even screaming are the icing on the cake.
In the whispered spoken voice sections or the subdued singing parts Jemina has the same tone of voice as Rose Avalon (Ritual Duir) and the beautiful ballad Suru could easily be on a Trobar de Morte album if it weren’t for all the Nordic instruments being played.

So Noiduin is not your typical Nordic folk band that builds layer upon layer of epicness. In an interview the band did with Jameson Foster on the Nordic Sound Channel, Jemina was asked if the band has a preconceived vision of how the sound of the music should be. I wasn’t surprised that Jemina and Henri said that the band doesn’t work like that. Jemina just writes songs based on how she feels, or how the lyrics inspire her. And you can hear that. Noiduin’s music sounds fresh, organic and free. I want to sing along with it, I want to dance and join in. These are songs rather than ritual experiences. And I’m loving it.

There is another reason why Noiduin isn’t your typical Nordic folk band. Reducing their (Finnish) music to the Viking aesthetic would not do justice to the uniqueness of the Finnish culture. Whereas the Vikings were a part of the Germanic tribes living in north-western Europe during Roman times, the origins of the Finns lie with nomadic tribes living in the north-eastern part of Europe and Asia, even as far as Siberia. This means their mythology, culture and folklore are totally different from those of the Vikings.
In their lyrics Noiduin explore that old Finnish heritage, just as their fellow musicians of Goi do.
The name Noiduin means: ‘casting a spell‘ and in their lyrics the Henri and Jemina continue the Finnish tradition of casting spells to help with everyday life or to connect with the spirits living around them. In the interview with the Nordic Sound Channel the couple explain that in Finnish folklore everything has a spirit, from the animals to the oldest caves and mountains.
In their lyrics Henri and Jemina sometimes use the spells themselves, sometimes they get in the skin of Finnish creatures, but in other songs Noiduin use the language of spells and spirits to share their own emotions. Uni, the opening ballad of Alinen is a beautiful example of that. Just read the translation as you listen to the song and you will know what I mean.

A Fresh Organic Feel
All in all I just love the music of Noiduin. Their use of authentic, self-build instruments. I love the organic feel of their songs. I love the contrast between the harsh spoken word vocals of Henri against the powerful female vocals of Jemina. Sometimes whispered, sometimes bursting out in full power, with just the right amount of edge to make her vocals work really well in this dark folk setting. The Finnish language itself is pleasant to listen too. The lyrics flow smoothly even if I have no idea what they mean without a translator.

I love the fun bits Noiduin adds to their music. The jaw harp ‘beat’ in Loitsu and Karhun Synty for instance, the double harsh vocals in Hiienn Hurtta or the native chant-like vibes I get from Nostatus. But I also love the simplicity of the band’s sound. The songs are kept simple and to the point, and the music sounds open. Every instrument gets enough space to shine within the overall sound without being drowned out by all kinds of synthesizer layers, sound effects or other things. All the instruments have room to breathe. Yet if you listen carefully there are all kinds of fun elements woven into the arrangements to enrich the sound: Added instruments, sound effects, clever use of backing vocals, and especially that rhythmical natural flow, that ritual heartbeat flowing through it all.

Jemina recorded and produced Korven Kolkon Kainalossa, herself on [quote] ‘the cheapest recording equipment available‘. Well, she can be really proud of those recordings as the sound is pretty good for a self-produced release. Alinen, also recorded and produced by Jemina, sounds even better. More crisp and open, which gives more room to all those cool musical surprises hidden in the music to enrich the songs. It’s cool to hear how much Jemina… No, how much the bánd have grown in just a years time.It’s pretty amazing actually.
You’ve seen the name Jemina a lot in this review. Although she is the founding member of the band,is credited as writing all the music on both EP’s, and is also credited for the lyrics together with her fellow band member and husband Henri, Noiduin does sound and feel like a true band, and not a solo project.

Fans of archaic dark folk bands like Furda or Cuelebre will love these two EP’s. But also fans of Folk Noir, Kaunan, or Waldkauz’s Mythos album will. Actually anybody who loves authentic archaic pagan folk should go and check out Noiduin’s music on Bandcamp. There isn’t a bad song on there! And while you are there keep an eye out for the new album the band is working on. If the new singles Nouse Maa and Päästa Minun are anything to go by then that next album is bound to be another dark folk gem.

Cliff

My thanks go out to Jameson Forster of the Nordic Sound Channel who did a fun interview with Noiduin. If you want to know more back ground information about the band be sure to check that out.

Editor: Sara Weeda
Photograph 1: Sami Teeri
Photograph 2: Hannu Juutilainen
Photograph 3: Noiduin

You can find Noiduin here:

Daily Disc
Towarb – Unserland (2020)

18 Mar
celtadmin
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Last month, we received a message from this band from the Alsace in France. In October, they released their first EP, Unserland, with four beautiful pieces of music. The songs are inspired by regional history and its oldest legends. As soon as you start listening you are in a distant and ancient world. Low voices, dark tones, historical instruments, and primal forces can be felt immediately. This EP is a good start. If you love Sowulo, Heilung, Munknorr and Wardruna it’s a good possibility you like Towarb too. We at CeltCast are looking forward to hearing more of this band! And, maybe on stage in the near future?
and My favourite song on Unserland? That is: Sterne.

Musical greetings, Ilona CeltCast


You can find Towarb on:
Facebook: Towarb
Bandcamp: Towarbensemble
YouTube: Towarb

Sowulo – Grima (2020) review

22 Oct
celtadmin
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Once there was, and once there wasn’t.
One thing comes to pass, and the other doesn’t.
Two families fought before men walk the earth.
Out the peace they then wrath, followed unlively birth.
After many moons bloodshed, spears set aside.
In a great hall, they met to turn the red tide.
A cauldron was set in the midst of the thing. The anguish went out and the spittle went in.
From saliva of all, the wisest became, destined to fall and Kvasir his name….

With these words Grima, Sowulo’s new album, starts. A rather unconventional way for a Nordic folk band, but Sowulo was never meant to be a conventional band in the first place. Starting out as a musical project founded by Faber Hornbach to celebrate the pagan holidays, it developed into a musical journey deep into our pagan heritage. (Which for me as a dutch person mean the times of the Batavi and the Frisians, part of the west- and North Germanic tribes that inhabited western and northern Europe around the Roman times). And we are doing it through Faber’s eyes, traveling with him to the days of the Northern Germanic tribes. The times were stories were told of the worlds flanking Yggdrasil. Storys of the plights of the gods and their interactions with dwarves, giants, elves, and all the other mythical creatures living in the nine worlds


Just a year ago Faber surprised us with Mann, a personal Nordic folk album, really powerful and tribal, in which he searched for his inner warrior, lover, king and musician, in a way discovering his own person and his place in the ever-turning circle of life. Mann ended up being a very intense and beautiful pagan folk album, sung in Anglo-Saxon. An album that took me a while to fully understand, but I now count as one of the better Nordic folk albums in my collection.
Fast forward a cycle of the sun and we have a new Sowulo album. Part of it already came out as a digital album on Bandcamp, and again it was a huge surprise as it consists of stories, not songs! And not just any old stories. No, Faber and storyteller Niek van Eck traveled back in time to the days of Asgard, when Odin ruled the nine worlds, and Ragnarok was just a small ripple in the future to come. Stories that ended up being written down in the Edda, the basis for all our knowledge of the Nordic myths and legends. Three of those stories made it onto Grima. Three stories based around the main theme of faith and destiny. Especially the futile struggle to escape your own destiny, be you a giant, man or god.
Triumph Over Tears, the third story for example, tells about the faith of Baldr, the son of Odin and his wife Frigg. It starts with the discovery of the Gods that Baldr was destined to die, and in their futile attempt to stop this from happening, they actually became responsible for his death! A death that otherwise may not even have happened.



Spātle Ǣghwās, the first single inspired by Grima is based on the ‘Saliva of all’ storytel-track

Gungnirs Gap, the fourth story on Grima, is even clearer in its message. It tells of Odin who discovers that the Norns, the ones weaving and breaking the threads of life, manage to laugh at faith while doing so, totally bewildering Odin, who in the end discovers that even for him, the mightiest god there is, trying to avoid faith is futile.
The opening track Saliva Of All and Beguiled By Blood Brew together form the longest story on Grima. It tells about the faith of Kvasir. The wisest of all, whose fate was to be killed by greed, and whose blood was turned into the mead of poetry, the mead that even to this day gives us the beauty of poetry, music, and stories.

It is clear that Niek van Eck (left), our narrator in this world of ancient sagas did indeed ask Odin for a drop of inspiration, as did Faber because Grima is as impressive an album as Mann is in its own unique way. From the first sentences of Saliva Of All, it is clear that Niek is a gifted story teller. He has a pleasant, deep, strong voice that fits these old Nordic stories perfectly. All told in English, his stories manage to captivate me time and time again. Even now, after listening to them for a fifth time, writing this review. He knows perfectly well when to slow the pace of his story, or when to speed it up to keep you captivated, and also when to change his tone of voice to emphasize a certain phrase or sentence.

Faber in his own right complements Niek very well. He took the stories and composed music under it, creating a perfect soundtrack to support every story Niek is telling. The best compliment I can give Faber is that the music never takes the foreground. While listening you tend to forget about it although you know it is there. The drums; the nyckelharpa; the strokes of the jouhikko; the gentle touch of the lyre; and the mythical sounds of the synth play some lovely repetitive themes that fit the stories very well. They lay a beautiful carpet on which Nieks words find a perfect resting place, changing rhythm and tune to emphasize every new chapter Niek is starting in his stories, but they never take over.
Only at the end of the last story, at the end of Gungnirs gap, Faber finally lets the music flow freely and lets the instruments tell their own story of fate, destiny and human nature. A perfect ending to a lovely storytelling album.
Now Grima, in the form it was released on April 2020, would never have made it to the CeltCast review pages, as we are an acoustic music station. But luckily on the digipack, there are two bonus tracks, and they deserve just as much attention as the four beautiful stories I told you of above.



With Spātle Ǣghwās and Fæcele, Faber took the musical themes he used in the stories and transformed them into two lovely songs, sung in old Anglo-Saxon. That might sound a bit odd for a nordic folk album at first, an old English language? Not if you know the history of it. Anglo-Saxon was the language spoken by the Germanic tribes living in the north of Germany all the way up to the top of Denmark. It was those tribes who, together with the Frisians, from 375 AD onwards made the jump to east England after the Romans left there, driving the original Celtic inhabitants of England outwards to Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, where Gaelic still lives today. So it is actually a north Germanic language

The first thing you notice when listening to Spātle Ǣghwās is the truly stunning voice of Emilie Lorentzen, best known as the backing vocalist of Euzen and Heilung. She lifts the already very powerful, atmospheric folk of Sowulo into new heights, her voice effortlessly shifting from angelic hights to intensely piercing, she puts the crown on this historic folk ballad, inspired by the story of the birth of Kvasir.
Fæcele is a faster song that’s perfectly in line with the music we heard on Mann. It shares the strong male vocals, the nyckelharpa, and drums from Mann, but adds a certain feminine touch to it, especially through the classical influences and atmospheric vocals halfway in the song.
While the music under the four stories is played by Faber alone, on Spātle Ǣghwās and Fæcele he is joined again by his fellow bandmate and Celtic harp player Chloe Bakker. Furthermore, we hear Rikke Linsen (Pyrolysis) on Violin and Heleen de Jonge on Cello.
Faber has written yet another chapter in the story of Sowulo, a story that is as exciting as it is unexpected. I can’t wait for what the next page of their story will bring, I guess I will just have to wait till the wheel of life turns once more. But until then I will keep enjoying the ancient myths of the north, and the ancient sounds of the Northern hemisphere, clearly touched by the meade of poetry, the blood of Kvasir himself.

Cliff

(For those who can’t get enough of the old Nordic saga, here is one more, recorded in 2016, just before Sol was released. In this case the narator is Eugene, and it is told in Dutch, but with English subtitles.
Enjoy! )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6leseChm164

Cliff

Editor: Sara
Cover art:Tim Elfring
Pictures:
Cliff de Booy (1)
Rebeca Franko Valle (2)
Samantha Evans (3 and Grima video covers)

Credits Ginnungagap Story video:
Video production by Jasper van Gheluwe | Deer and Wolf Productions
Soundtrack by Faber Horbach | Auroch Audio Productions

Monthly Marker May 2020: Myrkur

05 May
celtadmin
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Myrkur - Folkesange (2020)

The Power of the Harp

New month, new monthly marker!

Many songs tell us about the magical beauty of harp play and the powers a skilled player can wield under the right circumstances. Previously I was captured myself by Kati Rán’s “Harpa Toner” which upon investigation turned out to be one of many renditions of the same tale that has been traveling throughout Europe, shapeshifting and scope-creeping, evolving in time to well-known versions like Binnorie, The Twa Sisters, The Bonnie Swans and Harp of Death.

Now, once more I am mesmerized by a harp-related song (or should I say ‘sange’? ) and this time as well, I simply had to know what was behind the softly sang lyrics brought across by the tempting voice of none other than Amalie Bruun, a.k.a. Myrkur.

Though mostly known for her Metal albums, Amalie has been diving deeper and deeper into the richness of Scandinavian traditional songs and clearly she came up with some pure Danish gold. As early as January of 2018, some of you may have been lucky enough to witness performances of Myrkur having struck new ground, touring together with other great artists of our scene, like Christopher Juul (Heilung, Euzen) and… you guessed it: Kati Rán. Fortunately her collaboration with Christopher did not end when the tour did. In fact, she stepped into his famous Lava Studios and recently proudly released her latest album Folkesange.

This work of art is a 100% match with our station’s format, which means we will be able to play each individual track and what’s more: we have chosen Harpens Kraft as our new Monthly Marker, meaning we will be playing it 5 to 6 times a day for the month of May!

You can find Myrkur here:

Read more

Sowulo releases a new album GRIMA

02 Apr
celtadmin
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Last Monday Sowulo announced that their new album GRIMA will be released coming friday, the 3th of april. according to Faber: “In the last past months I worked on the upcoming Sowulo album. Again I did my best to do something unexpected. I teamed up with Tumulus to create something truly unique.
The upcoming GRIMA album contains an immersive combination of Storytelling and Atmospheric music. Tumulus aka Niek van Eck did what he does best: storytelling like a mad skald-wizard, and I had to honour to add some cinematic tune to it.
We recorded GRIMA from a place of deep presence, rooted in ancient stories of wisdom.’ The artwork, Faber told us: ‘Consists of drawings by Niek van Eck edited by Jasper van Gheluwe .
Friday the 3th of April, American time, GRIMA will be digitally released on all the major platforms and smaller platforms, including Spotify and Sowulo’s Bandcamp page here, where we can all listen the album for the first time. Expect stories of Nordic saga told by Tumulus with compositions by Faber Horbachs hand under it. Indeed something truly unique.
The physical album release will take a bit longer. But just might be worth the wait. Of course will keep you informed on that.

picture by: Rebeca Franco Valle






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