WARDRUNA Performs Live In Oslo; Video Available

During this year's edition of the Inferno Music Conference, WARDRUNA — the project led by former GORGOROTH drummer Einar "Kvitrafn" Selvik (who has also played with SIGFADER, JOTUNSPOR and DEAD TO THIS WORLD) — performed live in front of the Oseberg ship in the Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway. The concert took place on Thursday, April 9 at 1:45 p.m. ex-GORGOROTH frontman Gaahl joined Kvitrafn for the performance, which can be viewed below.

Commented Einar: "Judging by all the positive feedback we have received, I'd say [the concert] was successful. It was with a great deal of reverence and pride that we, amongst the ancient longships and relics in The Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy, preformed our songs in front of an audience of two hundred persons. It was a wonderful experience and great thanks goes out to everyone who made it happen. This will definitely not be the last time WARDRUNA perform live!"

"Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga", the debut album from WARDRUNA, was released on January 19 via Indie Recordings.

The CD features the following track listing:

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 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.