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Hedningarna
"The Heathens" (Arctic Circle) |
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| Listening
to Hedningarna's music, is like "...eating black bread tainted with ergot
and hallucinating with a bunch of peasants from a Breughel painting,"
according to one critic. "You will lose yourself in a primal rumbling
reverberating through time." Hedningarna's two songstresses, Finnish vocalists Sanna and Anita, are accompanied by the sounds of keyed fiddles, Swedish pipes, lutes, a hurdy-  gurdy,
accordion, and jaw harp. The vocals move easily from soft, melodic
tones to high, intertwining shrills, sending shivers down one's spine.
Drawing from the ancient runosongs (poem-songs) which date to pre-Christian times in Scandinavia, as least as far back as AD 800, their melodies and lyrics tell tales of love, maidens and magic. From their song to the thunder god, Ukkonen, "Mighty old man of the heavens pull out your sword of fire". * "...mood-drenched, propulsive music that is both exotic and rewarding. ... a spellbinding, mesmerizing hour." |
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