NorthSide
All Products > Albums
Grimborg
Artist: Gjallarhorn
Label: NorthSide
Label : Northside - http://www.noside.com
Description:
The long-anticipated third CD from Gjallarhorn (pronounced "yal-lair-horn") is here. Gjallarhorn have a dreamy, completely acoustic sound featuring intense fiddling, the drone of the didgeridoo, mandola, global rhythms, percussion, and the sweeping vocals of Jenny Wilhelms. Obviously, the didgeridoo is not a native instrument, but it supplies a low drone as the Swedish bagpipe would in the same role. Their music is a modern echo of the ancient Nordic folk tradition with medieval ballads and mythological themes. Using the sound and resonance of their instruments to greatest effect, this is Nordic music with a global view.
The lyrics on Grimborg are all about transformations; first to hide one's true face, to conquer obstacles on the way, to discover the subconscious, and to finally rediscover one's right element. "Entering a grimborg" is an old Finnish ritual, when people trod the stone mazes found all along the shoreline. In the maze ritual the difficulty lies in reaching the center, where the maiden is, then you exit the maze together. "Grim" comes from the word grímr, which means concealing, a person who hides his true name. "Borg" stands for a stronghold, or dwelling.
The band is Finnish, but hails from a Swedish-speaking area on the West Coast of Finland, a fringe geographical area where 50% of the people speak Swedish and the music remains Swedish in character. Most of their repertoire is the folk music of these Swedish-speaking Finns, from the unique minuets and ballads that have only survived in Ostrobothnia, to the oldest traditional waltzes.
The narrative of Gjallarhorn's songs spring primarily from Nordic mythology. The Gjallarhorn is the horn with which the gatekeeper god, Heimdal, sent messages from the gods of Asgård to the mortals of Midgård. The name of the horn is related to the word gjala, which means "to shout" or "to sing out."
The long-anticipated third CD from Gjallarhorn (pronounced "yal-lair-horn") is here. Gjallarhorn have a dreamy, completely acoustic sound featuring intense fiddling, the drone of the didgeridoo, mandola, global rhythms, percussion, and the sweeping vocals of Jenny Wilhelms. Obviously, the didgeridoo is not a native instrument, but it supplies a low drone as the Swedish bagpipe would in the same role. Their music is a modern echo of the ancient Nordic folk tradition with medieval ballads and mythological themes. Using the sound and resonance of their instruments to greatest effect, this is Nordic music with a global view.
The lyrics on Grimborg are all about transformations; first to hide one's true face, to conquer obstacles on the way, to discover the subconscious, and to finally rediscover one's right element. "Entering a grimborg" is an old Finnish ritual, when people trod the stone mazes found all along the shoreline. In the maze ritual the difficulty lies in reaching the center, where the maiden is, then you exit the maze together. "Grim" comes from the word grímr, which means concealing, a person who hides his true name. "Borg" stands for a stronghold, or dwelling.
The band is Finnish, but hails from a Swedish-speaking area on the West Coast of Finland, a fringe geographical area where 50% of the people speak Swedish and the music remains Swedish in character. Most of their repertoire is the folk music of these Swedish-speaking Finns, from the unique minuets and ballads that have only survived in Ostrobothnia, to the oldest traditional waltzes.
The narrative of Gjallarhorn's songs spring primarily from Nordic mythology. The Gjallarhorn is the horn with which the gatekeeper god, Heimdal, sent messages from the gods of Asgård to the mortals of Midgård. The name of the horn is related to the word gjala, which means "to shout" or "to sing out."
Reviews
- "...a labyrinthine journey through the dark recesses of Nordic mythology. What they rescue is our faith in the power of music to transcend the mundane. The unfettered strains of the Hardanger fiddle wail over the growl of the didgeridoo and the jingle and thump of a slew of world percussion. Jenny Wilhelms' crystalline voice soars over it all." -- RootsWorld
- "...more dense in texture than its two predecessors, a complex interplay of the twining lines of Jenny Wilhelms' voice and fiddle and Adrian Jones' viola or mandola over percussion and the animal grunt, shriek and pulse of Tommy Mansikka-Aho's didge." -- Andrew Cronshaw, fRoots
- "Grimborg resonates with wild, dissonant strings, making it a darker album than its sisters, both mysterious and demanding the listener's attention." -- Green Man Review
- "Gjallarhorn has gone from being a group that interprets old songs in a mostly traditional manner to a group that uses traditional music as a springboard for its own creativity and vision. The group's use of non-Nordic instruments and unusual arrangements creates dreamy soundscapes that invite the listener to get lost in them. It is an invitation worth accepting." -- rambles.net
Track List:
| 1 | Konungadöttrarna - The King's daughters | 4:16 | |
| 2 | Grimborg | 4:30 | |
| 3 | Tora lille - Little Tora | 4:22 | |
| 4 | Polonaise | 3:22 | |
| 5 | Menuett - Minuet | 2:31 | |
| 6 | Njawara | 2:40 | |
| 7 | Herr Olof - Sir Olof | 5:23 | |
| 8 | Ella lilla - Dear Ella | 5:47 | |
| 9 | Ack Lova Gud - Oh, Praise the Lord | 4:22 | |
| 10 | Frøysnesen/Soteroen | 4:35 | |
| 11 | Vallevan | 4:37 | |
| 12 | Kulning - Cow Calling | 5:25 | |
| 13 | Längteren | 2:52 |
Hearful Music - music to make your brain happy from the ESD, NorthSide and Omnium record labels.