WARDRUNA

Non-Metal • Norway

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Wardruna is a Norwegian ambient/folk band led by musician Einar "Kvitrafn" Selvik, whose extensive background in metal bands such as Jotunspor, Gorgoroth and Sahg ensures Wardruna a place in the Metal Related section of the MMA. Wardruna also features former Gorgoroth and current God Seed vocalist Gaahl among their line-up.

Wardruna are currently working on the Runaljod trilogy of albums, the first two parts of which are released; Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga (2009) and Runaljod - Yggdrasil (2013). Runaljod is an interpretation of the runes of the Elder Futhark, the oldest of the runic alphabets.

- Biography by adg211288 (November 2013).

Thanks to adg211288 for the addition

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WARDRUNA Discography

WARDRUNA albums / top albums

WARDRUNA Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga album cover

4.00 | 4 ratings

Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga
Non-Metal 2009

WARDRUNA Runaljod - Yggdrasil album cover

4.35 | 4 ratings

Runaljod - Yggdrasil
Non-Metal 2013

WARDRUNA Runaljod - Ragnarok album cover

3.55 | 2 ratings

Runaljod - Ragnarok
Non-Metal 2016

WARDRUNA EPs & splits

WARDRUNA live albums

WARDRUNA demos, promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs)

WARDRUNA re-issues & compilations

WARDRUNA singles (1)

0.00 | 0 ratings

Fehu
Non-Metal 2013

WARDRUNA movies (DVD, Blu-Ray or VHS)

WARDRUNA Reviews

WARDRUNA Runaljod - Ragnarok

Album · 2016 · Non-Metal

Warthur

With Eilif Gundersen taking on more instrumental duties and Gaahl taking his leave, the third album in Wardruna's Runaljod trilogy sees another stylistic shift. This time, the folky world music stylings of the previous album take a dark, foreboding turn, in keeping with the apocalyptic overtones of Ragnarok. The end result is, unfortunately, a bit of a mixed bag, with some songs fascinating whilst others leave you cold. (Album opener Tyr takes what would have been an evocative 1-minute intro and drags it out over six and a half minutes, for instance.) Still, despite the fact that it might be the weakest of the trilogy, Ragnarok will likely be enjoyed by anyone who got excited by the first two entries in the Wardruna discography.

more than 2 years ago
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Report #343125

WARDRUNA Runaljod - Yggdrasil

Album · 2013 · Non-Metal

Warthur

This second release from Runaljod continues the emphasis on multi-instrumentalist Kvitrafn's ambient dark folk compositions combined with haunting layered vocals from Gaahl and Lindy Fay Hella, but expands the sonic universe of the band. Appropriately enough for an album named for the World-Ash on which different realms hang, there's a strong world music influence here, perhaps filtered through inspirations like Mike Oldfield's Ommadawn. Not for Wardruna the limiting confines of a narrowly-defined folk tradition - instead, here they put their folk influences in the wider context, celebrating their heritage not as a single culture standing alone but as one voice in a chorus of many. The end result is simultaneously local and traditional whilst at the same time global and universal - not bad for an attempt to take in all worlds in the sweep of a single album.

more than 2 years ago
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Report #343121

WARDRUNA Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga

Album · 2009 · Non-Metal

Warthur

Ambient neofolk explorations of the futhark runes and their mystical interpretation aren't new - for instance, Ian Read's Fire + Ice project did Rûna - but few go into the subject as deeply and as long as Wardruna's Runaljod trilogy. This first entry in the sequence establishes the general pattern - you have folk-tinged ambient and ambient-tinged folk melded together by the skilled hands of Kvitrafn for the most part (Hallvard Kleiveland guests at points on the fiddle), whilst Lindy Fay Hella tackles most of the vocals (backed up this time by Gaahl and Kvitrafn himself).

It is quite distant from any of the metal projects some of the band members have been involved in, but those interested in the various dark ambient and folk subgenres that have cross-pollinated with black metal may find it an interesting voyage, as would fans of neofolk and other such avant-folk subgenres.