Salintheus

Hardingrock are a Norwegian folk metal band which consists of Ihsahn (who of course is the genius behind Emperor), his wife Starofash (Peccatum) and fiddle player Knut Buen.

“HARDINGROCK is a collaboration between the musicians Starofash (Heidi Solberg Tveitan), Ihsahn (Vegard Tveitan) and Grimen (the fiddler Knut Buen). Set for release in June 2007, the album Grimen presents folk tunes on the Norwegian national instrument, Harding fiddle, text and melodies based on Norwegian mythical tradition, arranged and recomposed in modern form with influences from heavy metal and classically inspired electronica. This is an experimental project where folk tunes are thematically broken down and expressed in a new rhythmic and harmonic form with guitars, piano, keyboards, percussion, recitation and song.” – The bands official MySpace.

This couldn’t really sum it up better. In fact, this is a perfect summation of the first track, Daudingen. Its a rather mellow piece with the fiddle, some electronica, percussion and Ihsahn spoken Norwegian and then Starofash singing Norwegian. Rather a nice track even if it does appear to be a bit weird.

The second track, Fanitullen, brings in all the instruments that you would expect from anything with Ihsahn’s name on it. When the main rhythm starts, it sounds much like a later Emperor or Ihsahn track just taken down a bit in tempo and distortion. Still as technical as ever though. The fiddle adds a rather nice flavour otherwise parts of the song might just end up sounding like a Tyr track or other folk and/or viking metal band. The last 64 seconds of this track is amazing. The harmonising of the guitar and fiddle works so well. This in fact is my favourite song on the album.

The third track, Faens Marsj, sounds so very Emperor but instead of the strings and brass that is common place with them, you have the fiddle. About as technical as the previous track but this it has more keyboard and much less fiddle. Unfortunately, its not so much of a memorable song.

The fourth track, Margit Hjukse, is spoken Norwegian over keyboard. Its kinda mellow, kinda creepy and kinda interesting. Can’t say much more about it.

The fifth track, Den Bergtekne, starts off with a creepy-ish fiddle over guitar and moves into a creepy fiddle with Starofash singing. Low level guitar gets added and it becomes a little weirder. A rather nice track. Soothing almost.

The sixth track, Faen På Bordstabelen, shocks me everytime it plays because of the high pitched, screeching fiddle at the beginning. This is another electronica piece with spoken Norwegian over the top. Nice. In the middle of the song it gets a bit heavy with some heavier electronic drumming and the addition of guitar. It then returns to its electronica stage. The catchy melody in it is rather, well, catchy. This song is about as soothing as the one before.

The sixth track and the title track, Grimen, is mainly spoken Norwegian with fiddle coming in at the end.

The seventh track, Fossegrimen, is where it all comes back. Starts off heavy and then adds some creepy Starofash singing with a strong fiddle. Of course, Ihsahn’s vocals come in shortly after, alternating with his wife’s. The fiddle acts as the lead instrument in this song and works so well. A bit of spoken Norwegian is in this track but that doesn’t take away from this being the heaviest track on the album.

The eighth track, Nykken, is an ambient instrumental. Its rather nice. I can’t say too much about it.

The ninth and final track, Huldreslåtten (Bygdatråen), is pretty much the same as track eight but is mainly a fiddle based track.

Overall, it is a very interesting listen and if you have seen my Last.fm recently played tracks, it has appeared rather often.

Offical MySpace Page

Ihsahn, Knut, Starofash