Manafonistas

Last time I had an „authentic pagan experience“ was in Kristiansand, during the 8th Punktfestival, September 2012, curated by Brian Eno: the English group named Cyclobe surpassed all my expectations with subtle drones, ancient instruments and self-made recorders, archaic rhythms: terra incognita of old lost Britannia. Distant echoes of the „Wicker Man“, the holy grail of dark folk. So, no question, I was curious when reading your review – and a bit sceptical: elements of heavy metal easily turn into over-pathetic walls of sound, much ado about nothing, so to speak. What I experienced was a great surprise: the sounds of nature perfectly mixed with the music, the language sometimes buried in the overall sound, sometimes flying on top of it. I will play Wardruna’s new album in one of my next radio shows, possibly before a new recording from another Norwegian guy, Geir Jenssen, and his explorations of volcanic sounds …