WARDRUNA // BARBICAN CENTRE, YORK
wardruna performing live at york’s barbican centre
★★★★★ (5/5)
Norwegian band Wardruna played their first ever show in York in the UK last night. They play traditional old Norse instruments and sing in old Norse language. Before I tell you what they were like I need to tell you about the outstanding support act. Her name is Jo Quail, an extraordinarily talented cellist. But she is more than just a cellist, the sounds she makes with her wonderfully constructed instrument (it looks a bit like a crossbow) make you feel like you are being hit with the power of a full band. Much of this is down to her immense skill in looping. She draws percussive sounds and by looping a hard draw across the bass notes with her bow she creates what sounds a little like an electric guitar. Her music is often dark with many deep layers of passion, hope, and soul with obsidian hues. Her music is more classical pieces than songs and she gave us three of those pieces in her set. My favourite was “Embrace” which has a kind of eldritch groove and a wonderful weirdness. She closed with “Adder Stone” which she dedicated to all the witches in the crowd. Judging from the response there are many witches in York. This set was beyond magnificent in its ambition, scope, and delivery.
Finally, it was time for Wardruna to take the stage which was dressed perfectly to depict the ties their music has with the natural world. Wardruna are a band like no other. They use ancient Norse instruments including deer-hide frame drums, flutes, kraviklyra (Kravik Lyre), tagelharpe (tail-hair harp), mouth harp, goat horn, and lur. The core of the band is Einar "Kvitrafn" Selvik lead vocals and a full range of instruments alongside singer and flautist Lindy-Fay Hella. Much of their music is dedicated to interpretations of the Elder Futhark, the oldest of the runic alphabets. They use some contemporary Norwegian and many older Scandinavian dialects which include Old Norse, the language of the Viking age and Proto-Norse, an even earlier ancestor of the Germanic languages.
They released their latest album, ‘Birna’, in January and in support of it they have embarked on an extensive world tour playing some countries for the first time. Given the Viking elements of their music, it is magnificent that they chose to play a show in York. After the Vikings attacked York in November 866AD, led by Ivar the Boneless and King Halfdan they renamed what is now York, Jorvik. The city was an important base for the Norse men and became the Viking capital of their British territories. The Viking Age in Britain effectively ended with the failed invasion attempted by the Norwegian king Harald III (Haraldr Harðráði), who was defeated by Saxon King Harold Godwinson in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. What if Harald III had won then maybe music in this country would still show an extraordinarily strong Viking influence.
Wardruna played a handful of songs from their new album and of those I felt “Lyfjaberg” was a huge highlight. Although the whole set was a highlight. The drumming was loud enough to crack the buildings foundations. When the horns were played you could imagine that it had summoned a battalion of Viking warriors from a longboat moored on the River Ouse. Einar’s voice is soulful, and he can convey every human emotion. I have no idea what the lyrics are or mean, but that simply shows how universal music is. I found it hard to find any current artists to compare Wardruna to, although I could imagine Kate Bush collaborating with them. Lindy-Fay’s vocals were reminiscent of Kate Bush on some songs. While the band do not use modern instruments there is an underlying vein of metal in their sound. Einar was once the drummer with Black Metal band Gorgoroth. The light show ranged from natural light to rave style pulsating strobe effects. The use of the band’s shadows projected against the huge backdrop was clever, effective, eerie, and cinematic in equal parts.
Toward the end of their set Einar gave a speech about how we humans have lost the desire to sing. Citing how old communities would sing to celebrate, births, deaths, weddings, successful crops, and many other things. He said how the band drew their sound from nature and having experienced it first hand I totally understand what he means. He gave the sell out crowd some homework, simply sing! There was a two-song encore starting with “Helvegen” taken from their second album ‘Runaljod – Yggdrasil’. He introduced this as a song similar to ancient songs used to help those who have died pass over to the other side. It is wonderfully atmospheric and in its softer moments quite meditative. “Helvegen” is my favourite Wardruna song at the moment. The final song was a solo rendition of “Hibjørnen” from the new album by Einar. It is a lullaby about a bear, but from the hibernating bear’s perspective. It was a chilled and beautiful way to end an incredible musical experience. I am not sure how Wardruna passed me by, but they are firmly in my musical world now.