An Album a Day Keeps the Doctor Away #4: Warduna – Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga

Good morning all, welcome to day four. Today is Thursday the 27th of February and in about an hour's time I'm going for a long-ass walk. Figured I'd get today’s album in before that. The number google spat at me this morning was 418, which is album number one by Nordic Folk sweethearts, Warduna, Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga.

Warduna // Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga

I read about Warduna in an issue of Metal Hammer many many years ago, in which someone reviewed album number two, Yggdrasil, and really dug it. The someone reviewing the album I mean. Not me. See, the reviewer mentioned bands like Enslaved and Gorgoroth, which were my selling points for that album. An album with ties to Enslaved and Gorgoroth! Wow cool! And I’m not going to lie, when I heard the thing I was a bit confused. Enslaved were heavy. Gorgoroth were heavy. Warduna were not. What the bloody hell was going on? And I kinda never listened to it again. But after watching Midsommar last year, I went back to Yggdrasil and it made a bit more sense to me. So, I decided to check out album one. And for a Nordic, ambient, folky, world album, Gap Var Ginnunga goes down really well. A lot of the longer cuts didn’t seem to go for half as long as it said they did (time flies etc etc). I like that this album isn’t about songs either, it’s just one long movement and each track flows into the next. It could really be the soundtrack for like, God (Dad) of War, or Vikings, or anything similarly ye olde and norse. Today’s please go listen to is for Laukr. That song is dark and moving and has a beautiful babbling brook in the background. It’s like a Nordic Host of Seraphim and is so so so lush and beautiful.