New York, NY (Top40 Charts) WARDRUNA will continue to keep Norse traditions relevant in today's society with their unique blend of contemporary compositions with traditional and historical instrumentation and narratives. In celebration of the Winter Solstice (12/21) - one of the most important ancient Pagan holidays - the band have today, December 22, released the third single, "Andvevarljod," from their forthcoming 2021 album KVITRAVN. A special Skaldic version of the song was premiered via a livestream on the Winter Solstice along with a speech on its importance and meaning by WARDRUNA founder/composer EINAR SELVIK.
"Andvevarljod," translated in English to "The Song of The Spirit-Weavers," explores the Nordic deities of fate (also known as the Norns), the spinning of life threads and the Norse and Sámi common idea that a person´s spirit is connected to wind, both before and after birth. It features guest appearances by a small group of prominent Norwegian traditional singers including Kirsten Bråten Berg,
Sigrid Berg, Unni Løvlid and Ingebjørg Reinholdt alongside WARDRUNA's own Lindy-Fay Hella.
"On a personal level, 'Andvevarljod' is a song I hold very dear and it was also my starting point on the new album," shares SELVIK. "Musically, it gives voice to very old song traditions and on top of that, it is voiced by some of the most central reasons why these traditions are being kept alive for us and the generations to come. Special thanks go out to our guest singers for lending us their talents and for the invaluable work they do for keeping our traditions alive!"
KVITRAVN (which translates to 'White Raven') will be released on January 22 via BY NORSE MUSIC in the U.S. and SONY MUSIC / COLUMBIA RECORDS (worldwide excl. U.S.). Throughout its 11 songs, KVITRAVN discusses Northern sorcery, spirit-animals, shadows, nature and animism, the wisdom and meanings of certain myths, various Norse spiritual concepts, and the relation between sage and songs. Pre-orders are available via digital download as well as CD and 180-gram 2LP gatefold vinyl (black and ltd. Edition white options) at https://orcd.co/kvitravn_album.
WARDRUNA were last seen stateside in 2018 where they sold-out a headlining show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and are scheduled to return to North
America in fall 2021, dates of which can be found in the admat below. With a sound that must truly be experienced live, they performed their first-ever concert in front of the 1,500-year-old Gokstad Viking ship in Oslo, NO and are the only band to have ever been allowed to hold an amplified concert at the Viking ship museum. Since then they've performed sold-out shows worldwide, including major festival headlining appearances (Hellfest, Roadburn, Summer Breeze, Castle Fest, Echoes & Merveilles, Rock oz Arenes, Rock The Coast, etc.).
In addition to their recorded music, WARDRUNA have exposed their music to a broad audience worldwide with massive musical contributions to History Channel ́s TV series VIKINGS and most recently SELVIK's featured work on the score for the latest installment of the Assassin's Creed® franchise, Assassin's
Creed Valhalla of which two of his songs were featured on the official soundtrack The Ravens Saga (via Lakeshore Records) in addition to contributing to the game's main theme. A ten-track album Assassin's
Creed Valhalla: The Wave Of Giants featuring all of SELVIK's contributions was also released via Lakeshore Records on December 4.
