WARDRUNA: Debut Album Artwork, Track Listing Revealed

WARDRUNA, the project led by former GORGOROTH drummer Kvitrafn (who has also played with SIGFADER, JOTUNSPOR and DEAD TO THIS WORLD),will release its debut album, "Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga", on January 19, 2009 via Indie Recordings.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Ár var alda
02. Hagal
03. Bjarkan
04. Løyndomsriss
05. Heimta Thurs
06. Thurs
07. Jara
08. Laukr
09. Kauna
10. Algir - Stien klarnar
11. Algir - Tognatale
12. Dagr

The song "Hagal" is available for streaming on the WARDRUNAMySpace page.

According to the band, "the first cover [see below] is a slipcase, the other is the front-page of the elaborate 24-page booklet. Both may appear if you look for the album in online stores."

The idea of WARDRUNA began to take shape in 2002 as a project where founder and main man Einar Kvitrafn Selvik could work with a musical expression and instrumentation very different from what his involvements in various metal bands would allow. Naturally, it also became a place where his passion for and practice of Norse paganism and runes could be combined with music.

In the spring of 2007, the project started to attract attention after it was featured on the soundtrack of the much publicized "True Norwegian Black Metal" documentary about Gaahl (TRELLDOM, GORGOROTH, etc.) by Peter Beste and Vice Films. Despite the fact that the band has not released any product or performed live, WARDRUNA has garnered a respectable and surprisingly diverse following.

Nearly six years in the making, WARDRUNA's long-awaited debut album is the first part of the planned "Runaljod" trilogy which will musically interpret the runes of the elder futhark. This highly visual music is hard to place into any specific genre, and there isn't really much to compare it to. The style can perhaps be described as a curious blend of folk, world and ambient music, but without being limited by the sometimes restricted scope of these genres.

"Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga" has a very profound and unique sound that consists of a wide array of instruments, some of which are rarely used. A few examples: deer hide frame drums, mouth harp, goat horns, lur, Hardanger fiddle and tagelharpe ("viking fiddle"). Sounds of more unorthodox ‘instruments’ like trees, stones and fire are also incorporated into the music, and it's all topped off with powerful vocal performances from no less than three vocalists.

The album was produced and engineered by Kvitrafn himself in his own Fimbulljóð studio. Many of the recording sessions were executed outdoors at carefully selected locations with instruments or natural sounds that are relevant to the different runes.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/wardruna.

Slipcase cover:

Front page of booklet: