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Wardruna: Birna review – numbing Norse nature-metal better suited to Netflix scores
Traditional instruments, drones and repetitive lyrics make for some epic listening, possibly more suitable for a medieval TV romp
Inspired by the heartbeat of a hibernating bear – a mere 9bpm – Wardruna use grand, lumbering drones, played on traditional stringed instruments such as the talharpa, to evoke a cinematic sense of centuries passing. Band leader Einar Selvik’s craggy voice, intertwined with Lindy-Fay Hella’s elemental ad-libs, strides across a dramatic landscape of primal percussion and tumbling bone flutes as he sings of the birna’s “awakening”, possibly to wreak revenge on the destroyers of her habitat. Selvik has composed for TV show Vikings and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, drawing new fans to Wardruna’s specialised style of historical reinvention, and there’s much of Birna that feels more OST than album.
Or read this on The Guardian
