| GARMARNA
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GARMARNA
Gods Musicians OMM 2014
Sweden: Land of buxom blonde babes who drink
like fish and copulate like bunnies, or land of endless nights and high
suicide rates and Ingmar Bergman films about terrifying weirdness?
Abba hailed
from the former Sweden, and Garmarna hails from the latter. Named for
the dogs that guard the gates of hell in Swedish mythology, Garmarna
sings ancient folktales about misery and death and regret and monsters
and everything else that would toment you while sitting in an igloo
with a howling storm outside and the nearest Prozac a hundred miles
away by dogsled. Sort of a twelfth-century version of Pink Floyd, they
play mostly traditional acoustic instruments, generating a soul-uprooting
drone with hurdy-gurdy, violin, viola, jew's harp and various guitars.
But they also have a modern appreciation for the mystical possibilities
of psychedelia and know how to use modern recording technology for ultimate
resonance (the drums really thwack). So their second album "Gods Musicians"
(Omnium/Rounder) is just about as good as it gets for roaming around
in your unconscious and confronting whatever archetypes happen to be
lurking there. And be not put off that the singing is in Swedish. Emma
Härdelin is the heaviest singer of folk ("folksinger" is just too
lame a label ) extant, and she could make you hallucinate in any language.
By Charles M. Young, Playboy
I could
write six reviews a year about this band if I could find an excuse.
Hailing (or is that halling?) from Sweden, this rock band has one of
the toughest, darkest, edgiest sounds to come around in a while. Garmarna
is electrically powered, to be sure, but what it powers is unique. Stefan
Brisland-Ferner's hurdy-gurdy stands as one of the most unique tools
a rock band could use. You have to sit to play it, turning a crank that
spins a wheel that rolls against a set of rosined strings and produces
a sound in its acoustic state that would make hair curl and teeth sit
on edge (imagine something more abrasive than bagpipes at dawn). But
what happens to this instrument in the context of this band is wondrous:
mysterious, softly threatening, as romantic as a Poe story. Layered
aroundf this are thundering drums, heavy on the bass-end skins, light
on the cymbals; synths, bass, acoustic and electric guitars, viola and
violin, jew's harp; enough drones to drown in.
This would be enough to make the group a must, but over all of this
are the vocals, especially those of Emma Härdelin. Here a band
bercomes a force; melodic, rhythmic, emotional. With Härdelin surrounded
by her male counterparts, the resulting ensemble vocals have the impact
I last remember on some early Steeleye Span records. Add Garmarna's
innovative musical arrangements, a purely Swedish music that pays no
tithe to tradition, and it rocks. I have raved about this band before,
and I will rave about it again and again. Garmarna makes sure that rock
music is not only the domain of American guitars and English haircuts.
This group proves it can be native, in any tongue.
By Cliff Furnald, CMJ(College Media Journal) also mentioned on the
cover, a Jackpot pick,#18 with a bullet.
What's your definition of folk music? Does it include hurdy-gurdy, e-bow,
samples and loops? It does for Sweden's Garmarna, in addition to bass,
guitar, and a variety of drums and strings (primarily violin). They're
the kind of folk band who doesn't believe traditional music was meant
to be preserved as it was ages ago, but taken to heart and made your
own, of the moment. Fortunately, others seem to agree: their previous
album, Guds Spelemän, won the 1996 Swedish Grammy for best folk album,
and their debut Vittrad was nominated in 1994. With Vengeance, the band
has taken a giant leap forward with their electronics gear (greatly
assisted by producer Sank, the band's "sixth member"), and put it right
in your face with the first track, "Gamen/Vulture." After a brief fade-in
to lull you, it jumps right for the jugular with driving drums fading
fore and back, throbbing bass, and an addictive hurdy-gurdy/violin riff.
Coupled with the first layering of Emma Härdelin's voice I could recall,
it was not what I had been expecting of Garmarna; it knocked me back
and dropped my jaw--I actually had to replay the song before I could
continue. The rest of the album is more in line with their earlier work,
yet still steps forward. The lyrics are kin to the original versions
of Grimm's fairy tales--dark, brooding, and familiar with stepmothers,
witches, and maidens betrothed to princes. Those kinds of lyrics may
irritate or intrigue, but the fact that they're all sung in Swedish
means it's not that crucial to the majority of us English unilinguals.
Starting from a quiet gothic calm, the title track ("Vedergällningen/Vengeance")
builds into a squeal of "refuge" from an impending thunderstorm provided
by a tin shed. "Bläck/Ink" is simple and elegant, "Euchari" light yet
driving, with electronic drums and walking bass; but overall, Garmarna's
music continually reminds me of the ocean: vast, undulating, a stark
loneliness, with glimpses of large oarboats emerging from the mists.
It's very easy to lose yourself staring off to such boundless horizons.
Paul Goracke, Soundpollution August 99
This album makes any deathmetal look like sundayschool...
Arbetaren, Sweden
Its heavy as few, it pushes and grooves, often with rhythms heavy as
led...
Metal Shuffle,Norway
Not quite folk-rock but definitely folk that rocks
Request, US
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