In 2024 gab es nicht nur tolle, großartige, interessante abwechslungsreiche Alben (über die Qual der Wahl und die Alben die ich letztlich ausgewählt habe), sondern auch sonst noch Neues und Neuigkeiten, viele erlebnisreiche Ereignisse und interessante Gespräche.

Die Konzerte

KALANDRA und LiLi Refrain in Köln: ein Konzert, das noch lange nachgeklungen hat

KALANDRA haben im September das Album „A Frame of Mind“ herausgebracht (review) und sind im Herbst auf eine Tour mit 30 Shows gegangen. Der Tourauftakt war in Köln. Dort haben sie mit 15 Songs ein langes Set gespielt, das nie an Spannung nachließ. KALANDRAs Musik ist Rock auf orchestraler Basis, der von nordischem Folk durchzogen ist. Die Texte handeln von aktuellen, aber auch grundsätzlichen Themen. So geht es z.B. um Überlegungen zum Zustand der Welt („The State of the World“) oder wie wichtig es ist, jemanden zu haben, mit dem man reden und etwas teilen kann („Ensom“).Mich hat sehr gefreut, dass sie auch „Bardaginn“ meinen Lieblingssong vom neuen Album gespielt haben. Es ist ein Nordic-Folk-Song, der unglaublich dicht, kraftvoll und dynamisch ist. Voll mit tollen Leads, großartigem Drumming und schweren Riffs.

Den Anfang machte an diesem Abend LiLi Refrain, eine Künstlerin, deren psychedelisch-rockige Folk-Metal-Musik ich sehr schätze. Sie verwendet auch bei ihren Bühnen-Shows ausschließlich Real-Time-Loops, ohne vorher aufgenommene Passagen. So entstehen die Songs in den Shows immer wieder neu. Mit Klängen, die ineinander übergehen und nach und nach poetische, unheimliche und komplexe Strukturen entstehen lassen. Und diese Strukturen durchdringt LiLis sirenenhafter, lyrischer Gesang.

MÚR: kraftvoll bis verspielt – und immer voller Enthusiasmus

Im November waren MÚR in Köln (als Support für WHEEL). MÚR sind eine isländische Band, die die isländische Wacken Metal Battle (2022) gewonnen haben und gerade erste ihr Debüt-Album „Múr“ herausgebracht hatten. (review)
Die Bühne war in rotes Licht getaucht, wabernde Klänge eröffneten den Song „Heimsslit“ und füllten schnell den ganzen Raum. Es entstand ein Eindruck von Leere, die gleichzeitig eine Sogwirkung hat. Dumpfe Bassklänge, doomiges Riffing und infernalische Vocals schaffen eine dystopische Atmosphäre.  Die donnernden Drums bauen zusammen mit harten Riffs eine Soundwand auf, die immer konkreter und massiver wird. Bis wieder wundschöne sphärische Klänge überwiegen, die dann aber in ein trostloses und dennoch gewaltiges Finale münden. Ich fand es mutig, dass sie ihr Set mit einem 10-minütigen Song begonnen haben. Doch der begeisterte Applaus zeigte, dass sie das Publikum von Anfang an mitnehmen konnten. Auch der Rest des Sets war eine großartige Wanderung zwischen roher Energie und verspielten Klängen, hämmernden djentigen Strukturen und abgefahrenen Rhythmen.

Interviews

Das waren einige spannende, lange, anregende und informative Gespräche mit engagierten,interessanten und angenehmen Gesprächspartnern.

Kimmo Kuusniemi: über Nachhaltigkeit, Überraschungen und persönlichem Ausdruck statt Perfektion

Das Jahr begann mit dem Interview mit Kimmo Kuusniemi, den einige von euch wahrscheinlich durch seine Band SACROFAGUS kennen. Anlass für das Interview war sein Projekt ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY, einem Cross-Arts Projekt, das er zusammen mit Tuomas Rounakari (KORPIKLAANI, Shamanviolin) auf den Weg gebracht hat. Es ist ein intermediales Projekt, das sich im weiten Sinne mit Umweltschutz beschäftigt. Wir haben uns lange unterhalten: über das Verhältnis des Menschen zur Umwelt und dem sich daraus ergebenden Umgang mit ihr, den Möglichkeiten von Film und Musik als Medium von Dokumentation, Information, Anregung und Herausforderung zum Nachdenken. Es ging auch um Dystopien, digitale Möglichkeiten und um die Möglichkeiten des Einzelnen, Einfluss zu nehmen, sowie die Untätigkeit von Verantwortlichen, die Veränderungen in der Umwelt anzuhalten.  
Und auch um Musiker wie Tuomas Rounakari, Steve di Georgio und Esa Kotilainen, die in der einen oder anderen Weise an ASA beteiligt sind.

Kimmo hat davon erzählt, dass er bereits in den 1980er Jahren Filme zum Umweltthema gemacht hat. Z.B. 1991 mit „Dream On“ ein Musikvideo als Warnung vor einer Umweltkrise, die heute Realität geworden ist. Aber die Menschheit hat nicht schnell gehandelt, sondern ist eher untätig geblieben. Er ist der Ansicht, dass wir am Rande des ökologischen Zusammenbruchs stehen, dass ständiges Wachstum nicht möglich ist und wir (zumindest in unseren Umgebungen) genug haben.

Wir sollten lernen, mit dem zufrieden zu sein, was wir haben. … Ich glaube, dass wir unsere auf Wachstum basierende Wirtschaft in eine nachhaltige umwandeln können, wenn wir alle wollen, dass sich etwas ändert.

Auch über Abwechslung, Überraschung und Perfektionismus gerade in der Musik haben wir gesprochen. Kimmo meint, dass Überraschungen wichtig sind, weil sich sonst nichts verändern kann.

Überraschungen und Abwechslungen sind wichtig, weil sich sonst nichts verändern kann. Für mich ist es langweilig, immer wieder die gleiche Musik zu machen, die gleichen Dinge zu tun. Wenn ich ein Solo spiele, ist es jedes Mal anders. Weil ich in diesem Moment nicht plane, was ich spiele, sondern einfach spiele. Zuletzt ist vieles in der Musik so technisch geworden und damit in gewisser Weise limitiert. Wenn die Fertigkeiten, das Perfekte im Vordergrund stehen und nicht der eigene Ausdruck.

Der Gedanke, dass Perfektion auch begrenzen kann, hat mir im Verlauf des Jahres auf unterschiedliche Situationen einen anderen Blick vermittelt.

ROCKET MEN: Musik, die nach Weltraum klingt

Das neue Album von ROCKET MEN „The Orbiter Sessions“, habe ich zum Anlass genommen, mich mit Philipp Püschel (Trompete) und Felix Dehmel (Schlagzeug) über das Album und den Entstehungsprozess, Storytelling, Weltraum, Veränderungen beim Publikum und über kommende Events zu unterhalten. (interview)
Nachdem geklärt war, dass sie sich nicht über Tinder, sondern durch die Musikschule kennengelernt hatten und wie sie zu ihrem Bandnamen gekommen sind, haben sie davon erzählt, dass zunächst die Musik da war und dann das Thema ‚Weltraum‘.

Aber es war nicht so, dass wir von Anfang an gesagt haben: wir wollen was mit Weltall machen. Sondern es war eher so: wir haben Musik geschrieben, die klang cool und irgendwie nach Weltraum.

Felix Dehmel

Die Musik, die wir schreiben und spielen, hat immer etwas von Weite und Ferne so dass es nach Weltraum klingt. Ich kann gar nicht beschreiben, welche Faktoren es sind, die das ausmachen, aber da wir viel Synthesizer und Keyboard in der Band haben, hat man viele Delays, viel Spielzeug, viel Space.

Philipp Püschel

Damit wird schon gut beschrieben, wie die Musik klingt. Aber auch die Geschichte, das Storytelling ist ihnen wichtig. Da sie ohne Lyrics auskommen, drücken sie dies durch den Titel und die Musik aus und lassen auf diese Weise intensive Bilder entstehen.
Für mich ist ‚der ROCKET MEN – Sound‘ die Ausgewogenheit zwischen Trompete, Saxophon, Schlagzeug und den Keyboards und Synthesizern sowie der Groove, die ‚Tanzbarkeit‘.
Oder wie Felix so passend sagt: „Aber ich glaube, bei uns spielt das authentische Element eine große Rolle und das Beat-Element. Man kann die Musik fühlen, als Groove, als Beat und man kann sich dazu bewegen.“
Also hört mal rein in das Album! Das Interview könnt ihr hier lesen.

Lindy-Fay Hella: Stimme, Sythesizer und dies Suche nach Unbekanntem

Ein Interview, auf das ich mich gefreut hatte, ist das mi tLindy-Fay Hella. Vielleicht kennt ihr sie als Sängerin bei WARDRUNA. Diesmal ging es aber um ihre andere Formation: Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne und das Album „Islet“.(review)
Sie hat mir erzählt, welche Rolle DEPECHE MODE und insbesondere das Album „Black Celebration“ für sie gespielt hat und was sie an Synthesizern so fasziniert hat, dass sie sie selbst spielen wollte.
Wir haben uns auch darüber unterhalten, was Synthesizer und die Stimme als Ausdrucksmittel miteinander zu tun haben.

Lindy-Fay dazu: „Mit der Stimme kann man bewusst die Resonanz des eigenen Körpers nutzen, um den Klang zu manipulieren. Synthesizer waren jedoch auch eine Inspiration für mich beim Gesang. Bei bestimmten Synthesizern gibt es Filter, mit denen man den Klang selbst verändern kann, wie scharf oder gedämpft man ihn haben möchte, den Anschlag, das Sustain und das Release. All dies kann man auch mit der Stimme tun, außer mit den extrem tiefen und hohen Klängen.“

Denn der Kontrast zwischen den elektronischen Elementen und der ‚organischen Stimme‘ spielt auch auf „Islet“ eine wichtige Rolle. Damit kann die ständige Suche nach dem Unbekannten und die Neugier auf das, was die Natur, die Vergangenheit, Träume und das Universum zu bieten haben, auf eine spezielle Weise ausgedrückt werden.
Denn der Kontrast zwischen den elektronischen Elementen und der ‚organischen Stimme‘ spielt auch auf „Islet“ eine wichtige Rolle. Damit kann die ständige Suche nach dem Unbekannten und die Neugier auf das, was die Natur, die Vergangenheit, Träume und das Universum zu bieten haben, auf eine spezielle Weise ausgedrückt werden.

Daher brauchte sie für die Songs auf „Islet“ auch nicht viele Worte. Worte, Geschichten und Märchen spielen eine wichtige Rolle für sie und daher verwendet sie viel Zeit darauf, die für sie ‚richtigen Worte‘ zu finden. „Ich mag es, einfache und wenige Worte zu finden, da ich das Gefühl habe, dass dann verschiedene Geschichten aus diesen Worten entstehen können, je nachdem, was der Zuhörer daraus macht. Diese Worte müssen jedoch genau richtig sein. Ich mache normalerweise lange Spaziergänge, beobachte Dinge, lasse mich aber auch von Begegnungen mit Menschen inspirieren und so weiter. Und natürlich das Unbekannte, das Geheimnis des Universums. Die Eindrücke von einer Reise zum Beispiel. Es kann Monate dauern, bis die Geschichten in meinem Kopf Gestalt annehmen“ sagt Lindy-Fay. Und ich finde, dass man dies in den Liedern hört. Das ganze Interview gibt es hier.

Christine Kammerer: Nordische Mythologie und schottischer Whisky

Das Interview, das mir unglaublich viel Spaß gemacht hat, habe ich mit Christine Kammerer geführt. Wir haben nicht nur über ihr Album „Echoes of North“ gesprochen, sondern auch über die Veranstaltung „Whisky and Witches“. Denn Christine ist nicht nur Musikerin, sondern auch Whisky-Liebhaberin und Kennerin. (vollständige Interviews hier und dort)
Zusammen mit Jane Ross hat sie „Whisky and Witches“ ins Leben gerufen. Dabei handelt es sich um eine Whiskyverkostung, die Whisky mit seiner Geschichte und seinen Geschichten sowie der Rolle der Frauen bei der Whiskyherstellung, Liedern über die Region, aus der er stammt, und Liedern, die den Whisky selbst beschreiben, zusammenbringt.

Und was haben Hexen mit Whisky zu tun? Im 13. Und 14. Jahrhundert war die Herstellung von Whisky und Aquavitae Frauensache. Es gibt einen Zusammenhang zwischen den Hexenprozessen und dem Besitz und der Herstellung von Alkohol. Frauen, die Alkohol herstellten, wurden in dieser Zeit der Hexerei bezichtigt. Und „Hexe“ wurde zu einem Schimpfwort für Frauen, die eine tiefe Verbundenheit zur Natur hatten, die sich mit Naturheilmitteln und Heilkräutern auskannten und beispielsweise wussten, wie man daraus verschiedene Arten von Aquavitae, Lebenswasser, destilliert. Und hier spannt Christine – wie sie es musikalisch auch auf ihrem Album „Echoes of North“ macht – den Bogen zur nordischen Mythologie: „In der nordischen Mythologie gibt es die Völva. Sie war eine wichtige Figur in der gesamten Gesellschaft. Und sie wurde für ihre Ratschläge hochgeschätzt. Sie konnte vorhersagen, wie die Ernte ausfallen würde, wie die Winter verlaufen würden, was wir tun mussten, um die Gesellschaft für den Winter zu sichern, und warum Dinge schief liefen.“
Aus dieser Achtung wurde später die Dämonisierung dieser Fähigkeiten. Wenn ihr mehr darüber wissen wollt oder auch, welches der Lieblingswhisky von Christine Kammerer ist, lest das Interview.

Das waren die Konzerte und Interviews, die mir viele neue Impulse gegeben haben. Ich wünsche euch viel Spaß, wenn ihr das eine oder andere Interview lest und ansonsten viele neue Impulse im Jahr 2025!

(scroll down for english version)

2024 war wieder ein Jahr mit vielen Veröffentlichungen, so dass mir die Auswahl nicht leichtgefallen ist. Es sind Alben dabei, die mich seitdem regelmäßig begleiten, andere in bestimmten Stimmungen. Die Alben, die ich für diesen Rückblick ausgewählt habe, sind voller Überraschungen, interessanter Strukturen und Herausforderungen, aber auch mit Elementen des ‚Wiedererkennens‘. Und das ist die Mischung, die mir gefällt.

Und los geht’s: ich habe die Alben nach ihrem Erscheinen geordnet, denn ich könnte keine Reihenfolge erstellen oder sagen: das war für mich das beste Album. Dafür sind sie zu unterschiedlich und jedes Album ist auf seine Weise etwas Spezielles.

Hier also – nach der Qual der Wahl – acht Alben, die in 2024 bei mir für einige ganz besondere Momente gesorgt haben.

„Hermalausaz“ von ÁRSTIÐIR LÍFSINS

Das Jahr begann mit „Hermalausaz“ von ÁRSTIÐIR LÍFSINS. (Die EP ist bereits am 21.12.2023 erschienen, aber ich habe sie erst kurz darauf ‚entdeckt‘.) ÁRSTIÐIR LÍFSINS lassen Folk- und Ambient-Elemente in eine Black Metal Struktur einfließen und nutzen neben den genretypischen auch klassische Musikinstrumente.
Die Vocals reichen von gutturalem Gesang zu Chorgesang und Erzählung. In den Texten geht es um Themen der nordischen Sagenwelt. Daher ist es stimmig, dass die Texte in Altnordisch verfasst sind. „Hermalausaz“ besteht aus zwei Stücken, die jeweils ca. 20 Minuten lang. Dabei verbinden sich Black Metal, Folk, Ambient und Elemente klassischer Musik zu einem vielschichtigen Klang.
Die Komplexität sowohl der Musik als auch der Gestaltung der Texte macht die Faszination und Anziehungskraft aus. Die Texte zu den beiden Stücken „Ýrr“ und „Þistill“ sind sowohl von skaldischen Gedichten der Edda als auch von Inschriften auf Runensteinen inspiriert.  (review)

„Pro Xristou“ von ROTTING CHRIST

Im Mai folgte „Pro Xristou“ von ROTTING CHRIST. Es ist eines dieser Alben, die sowohl Neues, Überraschendes als auch Bekanntes in einer spannenden Mischung bieten.Nach 35 Jahren Bandgeschichte, die musikalisch vom Grindcore bis zum Black Metal reicht, ist es das 14. Album. In ihren Alben haben ROTTING CHRIST sich immer wieder mit unterschiedlichen religiösen und philosophischen Strömungen, Mystik und alten Kulturen beschäftigt.
Auf „Pro Xristou“ geht es um die letzten heidnischen Könige, die ihre Werte und ihr Wissen gegen den Ansturm des Christentums verteidigen wollten.Die Auseinandersetzung und der Widerstand dieser Weisheiten gegen die christlichen Ideen ziehen sich thematisch durch das Album.
„Pro Xristou“ stellt für mich die konsequente Fortsetzung des Albums „The Heretics“ dar. Wobei die Songs auf „Pro Xristou“ noch runder und kraftvoller sind. Es ist wohl ihr atmosphärischstes Album, das eingängig und trotzdem voller Härten ist. (review)

„The Orbiter Sessions“ von ROCKET MEN

Im Juni haben uns ROCKET MEN mit „The Orbiter Sessions“ wieder in die Tiefen des Weltalls entführt. ROCKET MEN nennen ihr Genre „Drum and Space“. Und das bedeutet: eine einzigartige Fusion aus rockigem Drumming, atmosphärischen ‚spacigen‘ elektrischen Strukturen und mitreißenden Bläser-Lines. Tanzbar, mit Jazz-und Techno-Elementen und Passagen, die auch Filmmusik sein könnten.
Der Kontrast zwischen organischen Drums und Synthesizer macht den besonderen Reiz aus. ROCKET MEN kommen ohne Lyrics aus, da Trompete und Saxophon dort, wo sie Melodien spielen, das Erzählen übernehmen. Außerdem lenken schon die Song-Titel die Vorstellung und Interpretation in eine Richtung.
ROCKET MEN beschreiben die Unendlichkeit des Universums mit einer Musik, die ihre Weite aus der Verbindung von spielerischen Möglichkeiten der Synthesizer, einer riesigen Portion Groove und Melodien mit jazzigen Motiven.
Das Album macht mir mit den komplexen Strukturen bei voller Tanzbarkeit nach wie vor viel Spaß! (review)

„Islet“ von Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne

Lindy-Fay Hella kennen viele von euch als Teil von WARDRUNA. Während der Corona-Pandemie sind die Ideen zu „Islet“ entstanden. Das Album von Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne hat dem Gefühl der Einsamkeit, die vielen Menschen zurzeit zu schaffen macht, eine Form gegeben. Dabei sind Lieder entstanden, die einen weiteren klanglichen Raum eröffnet haben, den man erkunden sollte! ‚Einsamkeit‘ ist zudem ein Thema, das auch nach der Corona-Zeit in vielen Bereichen eine Rolle spielt.
Linda-Fay Hella & Dei Farne haben elektronische und traditionelle Musik, experimentelle Elemente und Folk-Strukturen in einer Weise verbunden, wie ich es vorher noch nicht gehört hatte. Aus dem Zusammenspiel von Lindy-Fays ausdrucksvoller und variationsreicher Stimme mit diesen Elementen sind sphärische Klänge und erdende Melodien entstanden, die den besonderen Reiz dieses Albums ausmachen.
Dadurch, dass neben Synthesizern auch traditionelle Instrumente wie die Nyckelharpa (übrigens gespielt von WARDRUNA-Kollege John Stenersen) oder auch ein Harmonium genutzt werden, ist eine subtile Spannung zwischen Melancholie, Kälte, magischen Momenten und bedrängender Nähe entstanden. Eine Musik, in der das Erleben, Träume und mythischen Wesen eine (Klang-) Welt erhalten haben. (review)

„Echoes of North“ von Christine Kammerer

Im July erschien das Debüt-Album von Christine Kammerer, die sonst mit JOTUNGER, ihrem “Dark-Folk-Projekt“ unterwegs ist. Aufgewachsen in einer musikalischen Familie und mit einem Hintergrund sowohl in klassischer Musik als auch im Heavy Metal, hat sie sich im Laufe der Zeit immer mehr mit Folk-Musik – und hier besonders mit keltischer Musik – auseinandergesetzt.
In ihrem Album „Echoes of North“ macht sie die gemeinsamen Wurzeln zwischen Skandinavien und Schottland hörbar. Die 10 Lieder singt sie auf Dänisch, Englisch und Gälisch. Auch sonst gibt sie den Eigenheiten sowohl der skandinavischen als auch der schottisch-gälischen Musik viel Raum.
Gut gefallen hat mir, dass sie neben fröhlichen Melodien und hellen Arrangements, auch die dunklen Momente, die es im Leben gibt, vertont hat. Und das nicht nur in den Klageliedern, sondern auch in denen, die vom Nachhauskommen und Zuhause-Sein handeln. Wie ein roter Faden zieht sich der Gedanke, dass traurige, schwere, dunkle Momente zu unserem Leben gehören, durch das Album. Aber es gibt immer wieder diese stärkenden Augenblicke in denen ‚das Licht hervorbricht‘ und man sich wohlfühlt, sich zuhause, angenommen und angekommen fühlt.
Christine Kammerer hat mit dem Album auch gezeigt, dass es Themen und Geschichten gibt, die in allen Kulturen eine Rolle spielen, und dass Musik und die mit ihr verbundenen Emotionen eine universelle Sprache sind. (review)

„Serendipitous Meeting“ von STUBA, Skaidra Jančaitė & Kjell Braaten

Musik in einer besonderen Form haben STUBA, Skaidra Jančaitė & Kjell Braaten mit dem auch sonst ungewöhnlichen Album „Serendipitous Meeting“ weitergegeben. Es ist – wie der Titel sagt -aus einer zufälligen Gelegenheit entstanden: nach einem Konzert trafen sich die Sängerinnen noch einmal im Haus von Kjell Braaten. Es wurde gesungen, die Lieder aufgenommen – und so ist das Album entstanden.
Bei der besonderen Gesangsform handelt es sich um Sutartinės. Sie sind eine alte Form mehrstimmiger Musik, die 2010 auf die Liste der immateriellen Kulturgüter der UNESCO aufgenommen wurde. Sie werden in der Regel von zwei, drei oder vier Sängerinnen vorgetragen.
Die Texte der Sutartinės erzählen von Dingen des Alltags, von Festen und von den Sorgen und Gedanken, die das Leben mit sich bringt.
Oft werden dabei menschliche Eigenschaften oder Emotionen durch Elemente der Natur ausgedrückt. Und so sind Lieder entstanden, die die Kreisläufe des Lebens und das damit verbundene Auf und Ab von Freude und Traurigkeit ausdrücken. (review)

„I“ von THE THIRD CIRCLE

Um Zyklisches geht es auch in der Debüt-EP „I“ von THE THIRD CIRCLE. THE THIRD CIRCLE sind ein Trio bestehend aus John Stenersen (WARDRUNA, GÅTE, BERGTATT), Anders Odden (CADAVER, CELTIC FROST) und Birger Mistereggen, also Musikern mit Erfahrungen in ganz unterschiedlichen musikalischen Richtungen.
Als Anders Odden 2020 lebensbedrohlich erkrankte, entwickelte er eine neue Beziehung zur Musik. Er wollte Musik machen, die persönlich, meditativ und sogar therapeutisch sein sollte. Und so experimentierte mit analogen Synthesizern und sammelte Naturklänge, indem er Aufnahmen insbesondere im Wald machte. Zusammen mit John Stenersen und Birger Mistereggen haben sie Musik aufgenommen, die zum Innehalten, Nachdenken einlädt, und auch eine Reise jenseits des Alltäglichen ermöglichen soll.
Die Stücke haben keine Titel (sondern sind nummeriert) und sind rein instrumental. Somit kann man sich von der Musik dorthin tragen lassen, wozu die Musik inspiriert, da weder Titel noch Texte eine Richtung vorgeben.
Das Prinzip von Wiederholung und Variation haben sie mit einem weiter werdenden Klangspektrum und unterschiedlichen rhythmischen Strukturen in vibrierenden Spiralen umgesetzt. Den Klang alter Instrumente und der Synthesizer haben sie in erdverbundenen, sphärischen und dissonanten Formen gebracht. Die Stücke klingen psychedelisch. Aber trotzdem ist die Verwurzelung im Konkreten durchgängig spürbar. (review)

„Múr“ von MÚR

Und zum Ende des Jahres – und zum Schluss meine Auswahl – ein weiteres Debüt-Album. MÚR kommen aus Island. Schon bald nach ihrer Gründung haben sie die isländische Wacken Metal Battle gewonnen (2022) und beim internationalen Finale bei Wacken Open Air den vierten Platz belegt. Weiteres Aufsehen erhielten sie beim Soulcrusher Festival (2023).
Im November 2024 erschien das Album „Múr“. MÚR heißt ‚Mauer‘. Und die Band beschreibt ihre Musik dann auch als „eine Mauer aus Klang und Emotionen“. Sie verbinden atmosphärisch-apokalyptische Klanglandschaften, die von Naturgewalten inspiriert wirken. So gibt es rohe Strukturen und gleichzeitig einen facettenreichen Sound, in den neben jazzigen und elektronischen Klängen Elemente aus weiteren Genres einfließen. So ist eine faszinierende Mischung aus Post-Rock und progressiver Musik entstanden.
Neben Gitarren, Bass und Schlagzeug nutzen sie Synthesizer und Keytar. „Múr“ ist ein aufregendes und interessantes Album mit vielen Details, cineastischen Passagen und wütenden Ausbrüchen. Mir haben insbesondere die experimentellen Passagen gut gefallen. Daher hoffe ich, dass sie diesen demnächst noch mehr Raum geben. (review)

——————- english version

My ‘Albums of the year 2024’

ÁRSTIÐIR LÍFSINS, ROTTING CHRIST, ROCKET MEN, Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne, Christine Kammerer, STUBA, Skaidra Jančaitė & Kjell Braaten, THE THIRD CIRCLE und MÚR

2024 was another year with many releases, so it wasn’t easy for me to make a selection. There are albums that have accompanied me regularly since then, others in certain moods. The albums I have selected for this review are full of surprises, interesting structures and challenges, but also with elements of ‚recognition‘. And that’s the mix I like.
And here we go: I’ve ordered the albums according to their release, because I couldn’t put them in order or say: this was the best album for me. They are too different for that and each album is special in its own way.
So – after being spoiled for choice – here are eight albums that provided me with some very special moments in 2024.

“Hermalausaz” by ÁRSTIÐIR LÍFSINS

The year began with “Hermalausaz” by ÁRSTIÐIR LÍFSINS. (The EP was already released on 21.12.2023, but I only ‚discovered‘ it shortly afterwards).
ÁRSTIÐIR LÍFSINS incorporate folk and ambient elements into a black metal structure and use classical musical instruments as well as those typical of the genre. The vocals range from guttural singing to choral singing and narration. The lyrics deal with themes from the world of Nordic legends. It is therefore fitting that the lyrics are written in Old Norse.
“Hermalausaz” consists of two tracks, each about 20 minutes long. Black metal, folk, ambient and elements of classical music combine to create a multi-layered sound. The complexity of both the music and the lyrics is what makes them so fascinating and appealing.
The lyrics to the two tracks “Ýrr” and “Þistill” are inspired by skaldic poems from the Edda as well as inscriptions on rune stones. (review)

“Pro Xristou” by ROTTING CHRIST

This was followed in May by “Pro Xristou” by ROTTING CHRIST. It is one of those albums that offer something new, surprising and familiar in an exciting mix.
After 35 years of band history, which musically ranges from grindcore to black metal, this is the 14th album. In their albums, ROTTING CHRIST have repeatedly dealt with different religious and philosophical currents, mysticism and ancient cultures.
Pro Xristou” is about the last pagan kings who wanted to defend their values and knowledge against the onslaught of Christianity. The confrontation and resistance of this wisdom against Christian ideas runs thematically through the album.
For me, “Pro Xristou” is the logical continuation of the album “The Heretics”. However, the songs on the album are even more rounded and powerful. It is probably their most atmospheric album, which is catchy and yet full of harshness. (review)

“The Orbiter Sessions” by ROCKET MEN

In June, ROCKET MEN took us back into the depths of space with “The Orbiter Sessions”.
ROCKET MEN call their genre ‘Drum and Space’. And that means: a unique fusion of rock drumming, atmospheric ‘spacey’ electric structures and rousing horn lines. Danceable, with jazz and techno elements and passages that could also be film music.
The contrast between organic drums and synthesiser is the special attraction. ROCKET MEN manage without lyrics, as the trumpet and saxophone take over the narration where they play melodies. In addition, the song titles already steer the imagination and interpretation in one direction.
ROCKET MEN describe the infinity of the universe with music that derives its vastness from the combination of the playful possibilities of synthesisers, a huge portion of groove and melodies with jazzy motifs.
I still really enjoy the album with its complex structures and full danceability!  (review)

“Islet” by Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne

Many of you know Lindy-Fay Hella as part of WARDRUNA. The ideas for “Islet” were born during the coronavirus pandemic. The album by Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne has given form to the feeling of loneliness that many people are currently experiencing. This has resulted in songs that have opened up another sonic space to explore! ‚Loneliness‘ is also a topic that plays a role in many areas even after the Corona period.
Linda-Fay Hella & Dei Farne have combined electronic and traditional music, experimental elements and folk structures in a way I hadn’t heard before. The interplay of Lindy-Fay’s expressive and varied voice with these elements has created spherical sounds and grounding melodies that make this album so appealing.
The fact that traditional instruments such as the nyckelharpa (played by WARDRUNA colleague John Stenersen) and a harmonium are used alongside synthesizers creates a subtle tension between melancholy, coldness, magical moments and oppressive closeness. A music in which experience, dreams and mythical beings have been given a (sound) world. (review)

“Echoes of North” by Christine Kammerer

July saw the release of the debut album by Christine Kammerer, who is otherwise on the road with JOTUNGER, her “dark folk project”. Having grown up in a musical family and with a background in both classical music and heavy metal, she has become increasingly involved with folk music – and Celtic music in particular – over the years.
In her album “Echoes of North”, she makes the common roots between Scandinavia and Scotland audible. She sings the 10 songs in Danish, English and Gaelic. She also gives a lot of space to the peculiarities of both Scandinavian and Scottish Gaelic music.
I liked the fact that, in addition to cheerful melodies and light arrangements, she has also set the dark moments that exist in life to music. And not just in the laments, but also in the songs about coming home and being at home. The idea that sad, difficult, dark moments are part of our lives runs like a red thread through the album. But there are always those strengthening moments when ‚the light breaks through‘ and you feel at ease, at home, accepted and arrived. With this album, Christine Kammerer has also shown that there are themes and stories that play a role in all cultures and that music and the emotions associated with it are a universal language. (review)

“Serendipitous Meeting” by STUBA, Skaidra Jančaitė & Kjell Braaten

STUBA, Skaidra Jančaitė & Kjell Braaten have passed on music in a special form with the album “Serendipitous Meeting”, which is also unusual in other respects. As the title suggests, it was the result of a chance meeting: after a concert, the singers got together again at Kjell Braaten’s house. They sang and recorded the songs – and that’s how the album came about.
The special form of singing is sutartinės. They are an ancient form of polyphonic music that was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural assets in 2010. They are usually performed by two, three or four female singers.
The lyrics of the sutartinės tell of everyday life, celebrations and the worries and thoughts that life brings with it. Human characteristics or emotions are often expressed through elements of nature. And so songs have been created that express the cycles of life and the associated ups and downs of joy and sadness. (review)

“I” by THE THIRD CIRCLE

The debut EP “I” by THE THIRD CIRCLE is also about the cyclical. THE THIRD CIRCLE are a trio consisting of John Stenersen (WARDRUNA, GÅTE, BERGTATT), Anders Odden (CADAVER, CELTIC FROST) and Birger Mistereggen, musicians with experience in very different musical directions.
When Anders Odden fell seriously ill in 2020, he developed a new relationship with music. He wanted to make music that was personal, meditative and even therapeutic. And so he experimented with analogue synthesizers and collected natural sounds by making recordings, especially in the forest.Together with John Stenersen and Birger Mistereggen, they have recorded music that invites you to pause, reflect and take a journey beyond the everyday.
The pieces have no titles (but are numbered) and are purely instrumental. This means that you can let the music take you wherever it inspires you to go, as neither the title nor the lyrics provide any direction.
They have realised the principle of repetition and variation with a widening sound spectrum and different rhythmic structures in vibrating spirals. They have transformed the sound of old instruments and synthesisers into earthy, spherical and dissonant forms. The pieces sound psychedelic. Nevertheless, the roots in the concrete are palpable throughout. (review)

“Múr” by MÚR

And at the end of the year – and my final selection – another debut album. MÚR come from Iceland. Soon after their formation, they won the Icelandic Wacken Metal Battle (2022) and took fourth place in the international final at Wacken Open Air. They attracted further attention at the Soulcrusher Festival (2023).
The album “Múr” was released in November 2024. MÚR means ‘wall’. And the band describes their music as ‘a wall of sound and emotion’. They combine atmospheric, apocalyptic soundscapes inspired by the forces of nature. There are raw structures and at the same time a multi-faceted sound that incorporates elements from other genres alongside jazzy and electronic sounds. The result is a fascinating mixture of post-rock and progressive music. In addition to guitars, bass and drums, they use synthesisers and keytar.
“Múr” is an exciting and interesting album with lots of details, cinematic passages and furious outbursts. I particularly liked the experimental passages. I therefore hope that they will give them even more space in the near future.(review)

A few days ago, you could read an interview with Christine Kammerer here, in which I talked to her about her new album „Echoes of North“.
And also the review of „Echoes of North“.

Christine is not only a singer, composer and musicologist, but also a whisky lover.

Together with Jane Ross, who has opened her own bar (The Mother Superior in Leith) after many years in the whisky industry, she has launched „Whisky and Witches“. In short, it is a whisky tasting that brings together whisky with history and stories about whisky and the role of women in the making of whisky, songs about the area it comes from and songs that describe the whisky itself.

Whisky – and witches?

And what do the witches have to do with it? Christine answers that in the following interview.

When I read the title, many things came to mind: when and why women were called witches, that women – before they were forbidden – were responsible for making beer and spirits. Herbal distillates were used as remedies. I also thought of women who played an important role in the structure of their community.
But how did you come up with the idea for „Whisky and Witches“?
I think the first thing I thought about doing music and whisky together was actually in 2019 when I had a meeting with a whisky company in Inverness.In 2020 I met Jane Ross when she was the manager of the “Black Cat”, which is a whisky bar in Edinburgh.Then the lockdown happened and we met each other again in 2022 when she opened her bar, “The Mother Superior” in Leith.And we got to talking, we got to drinking whisky and I told her that I really want to do this kind of ‘music and whisky thing’. And she said, oh, she had some of the same thoughts.  And then we started sharing stories and we started talking about the women in the whisky industry. And then at some point, I can’t remember what order things happened in because there were a lot of whiskies, but there was a guy that came up to us and said: “You sound like a bunch of cats and witches”.

And the title was born.
Yeah, and we started talking more about folklore, how we could weave that into.
And then we started talking about witches at some point and how we could weave folklore and witches together and that grew into becoming more and more about how women in the alcohol industry from a very early age were demonized for their connections to alcohol.

Women were demonized for their connections to alcohol

Was it about the women who were brewsters and alewives in the 13th and 14th century?
Yes, and all the way up to women in whisky, Aquavitae-women. And we also talked about some of the witch trials in Germany and how that affected witch trials in Denmark and how that connected to Scotland. So we made that full circle and talked about how the possession and production of alcohol could actually be a contributing factor in abusing a woman of witchcraft and how it was. And you can see that in stories, you can see that in the depictions in different churches, in law texts, in witch trials.

And these are the stories you tell about the whisky at the tasting?
So, what we wanted to do was to convey the story of this, but we also wanted to make the whisky come alive. The way it works is that we interweave stories and music into your experience of the whisky and we will make bespoke to each of the whiskies that you try and the story would tell with it. So it’s my compositions or it’s Scottish folk songs that we use for it, and Nordic folk songs.

What response and feedback have you received so far?
The feedback we’ve had on it has been a lot that people have never, even from big figures in the whiskey industry, like the global brand ambassador of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, John McCheyne, said he’d never been to anything like that, that ours was hands down one of the best whisky tastings he’s ever attended because we tell the story that’s in the whisky. We make the tasting notes come alive.

How do you approach things when you’re writing a song to a whisky?
Yes, I taste a whisky and then write a piece of music that captures that flavour. And I add the notes that Jane makes during her tastings.

Aquavitae -the water of live- and ‘witches’

The word „witch“ has a rather negative connotation. It only came about with Christianisation. To cut a long story short, it was a way of excluding women who produced beer, alcohol and aquavitae.
What do you tell the audience about witches? How do you portray them?
Yeah, so what we say is that, very much what you just said there, that the term ‘witch’ is something that has become kind of a curse word for people, especially women who had a deep sense of connection to nature, who had knowledge about natural medicines, medicinal herbs, and knew how to, for instance, distil them into different types of aquavitae, water of life. And they could also have been, to go back to Brewsters in the 13th and 14th century, there are different depictions of brewsters and alewives being in cahoots with the devil in different churches around in Scotland and England.

It was another point at which the church demonised women who played an important role in their community.
Yes, woman who used to have a central role in their community and be of high importance to the health of the community, someone you sought advice with. In Nordic mythology, you’ve got the Völva. She was an important figure in all society. And she was highly respected for her advice. She could foretell how the harvest would be, how winters would go, what we needed to do in order to secure society for winter, why things went wrong.

And then people went from valuing these women and particularly their connection to gods and goddesses to demonising them for it.
It’s also the time around where, when the whisky starts to come more forth. In the end of the 15th and 16th century, you start to see a turning point, where things become worse. And it’s not that wise women who had these capabilities were, you know, all at the same time, demonized.

Dangerous times for woman to be associated with spirits

People then had an ambivalent relationship with these women. On the one hand, they needed their knowledge, but on the other, they were blamed when things went wrong.
We’ve got several different cases, especially in Denmark, and also in Scotland, of cases where perhaps people in local communities came to these wise women for healing sanctuaries, healing activities, or to help make their cows give milk again.  And then all of a sudden, if that went wrong, she would be the first one to blame.So it was an extremely dangerous time for a woman to be associated with spirits, whether it was alcoholic spirits in the form of healing potions, elixirs, or it was other spirits around you.

What role did economic change play in pushing women out of these areas?
When apothecaries started popping up more and more, led by men, these women who were doing this Aquavitae in rural communities, it became illegal for them to do that, because everything was institutionalized and moved into the apothecaries.
So as a woman in 16th century Germany, and in Scotland as well, if you had a bottle of Aquavitae in your procession, and it wasn’t licensed, that could be used as direct proof of you being a witch in a witch trial. It is not entirely clear whether women were condemned as witches because they made whisky, a drink for everyday consumption, or whether it was the women who made aquavitae.

Women were the first distillers

It is certainly difficult to separate this exactly, because in the past both ‚whisky‘ and aquavitae were made from grain, potatoes and herbs.
Yes, and the question is whether this distinction is important. We are interested in understanding why women were demonised in this context.When the production of spirits was institutionalised, women often could not afford to stay in the business. Or women were pushed out systematically because an industry was seen where, as it became more and more profitable, women were pushed out. Even though women were the first distillers, women were the first brewers, so many different important discoveries were made by women in alcohol. And what we’re seeing now, especially in Scotland, which is a joy to see, is that that is flipping, the balance is starting to get back now.

That means that there are more women in the whiskyproduction now?
I was part of a mentorship programme called “Our Whisky Foundation Mentorship”, and you really see that the forces are changing. My mentor said, it has never been a better time to be a woman in the whisky industry, because a lot of people want to work with women in the industry to show that they are supporting this development. And hopefully it is. It’s not a question about women, having to take anyone’s place. It sounds weird. It’s a matter of recreating a balance that should always have been there, because men and women have been equally part of the industry.

Women have been involved in the whiskyproduction before it became an industry. Brewing beer and distilling alcohol was a domestic activity.    The women were the ones who had to perfect how to do that to a degree where it tasted well and had the medicinal qualities it had to have. So it’s mainly about reinstating a balance that should always have been there.

And that is, what you will say with you show?
That’s what we want to do with the show.

How the audience reacts

And how about the listeners in these shows? How do they react on this information and this kind of presenting whisky?
We’ve had mainly really positive reactions. We’ve had people come up to us after the show and said, I have two girls at home. After witnessing your show, I will never look at them the same way. We’ve had one of our shows at the Fringe [The Frings Festival in Edinburgh] last year, that was quite interesting actually. We had a group of five young men, like early twenties, sitting at the back and we thought, they were a bit rowdy, they had a couple of drinks before the show. And we thought, okay, are they going to be a problem? But they were just completely taken in by what we were telling, by the music, by the way of experiencing the whisky. And one of them  came up to us afterwards and said: “Thank you. This was so much more than we thought it was going to be and I’m deeply moved by it.”
And I remember I’ve had so many instances with talking to men after performances, especially where it seems like we’ve entered the same space. There is no distinction between genders anymore. It’s just that they understand that our ambition is to create balance and be understood and understand why these stories are important to tell, why these women are important to name. People know of patriarchal society, people know what it does to both men and women and has done through history.

Are there more men or are there also women at these tastings shows?
That’s the amazing thing because it has been almost 50-50 the entire way through our shows. And we’re seeing a lot more. And I think what we’ve created here as well, it’s a safe space for women to enter whisky. A lot more women enjoy whisky than we think. A recent study from 2022 showed that 40% of whisky drinkers are women. And we don’t see that represented that much in different tastings, because it can be a bit of a difficult environment for women to enter. And we’ve had ages from, honestly, we’ve had people from 20 years old to 85.

To approach not only the whisky but also their own history  in a different way

What do you think is the most important experience that people take away?
What I hope is that the experience they get with us gives them a sense of agency to go into the world and approach whisky in a different way and approach their own history in a different way. Really what I hope.

And which types of whisky are you presenting at these shows? Do you have different types of whisky according to where are or do you have same? Because I’m thinking about how to find the right songs for each whisky.
Well, for the first couple of „Whisky and Witches“ we did, we did by whisky regions. And then I found different folk songs that fit from those regions In other cases, I found folklore creatures that were very prevalent in those specific regions.
With the “Whisky and Witches” we’re doing for the Fringe-Festival , we’re doing it in collaboration with a sponsor called Spiritfilled, who has some amazing whiskies. They have whiskies from different regions and different folklore creatures on their bottles. So I wrote a manuscript that spoke to the creatures they have, then found music that interlinked the cultures that the folklore creature was from and the Scottish folklore realm.Put that together and then found some of my own songs that underlined and played into the storytelling about them. So it’s constantly figuring out how do I, for instance, they had a creature called Nyamnyami, which is actually an African water god from Zimbabwe. They had that on one of their Scot whiskies.So I took that and I linked it up with the Mermaid in Scottish Folk Mythology. And there’s a song called “The Mermaid’s Croon”, Scottish folk song. So I rearranged “The Mermaid’s Croon” with traditional African instruments from Zimbabwe and Zambia and interlinked that in my arrangement of it.

From first whisky tasted like liking an ashtray to  having a lot of favourite whiskies

That is a kind of a way of bringing those two cultures together. You told a lot about different whiskies. But do you have a favourite whisky?             Oh no, I have a lot. I really like Ardmore, which is a Highland heated whisky, Glen Scotia and a lot of others. Some great Irish whiskies. And Stauning is one of my favourites from Denmark.

What was your first whisky?
Yeah. My first whisky was the Laphroaig 10. I was 18 years old, and it tasted like licking an ashtray. But I liked it.

When you come to Germany, you have to look after a whisky called “Harzer Hexenwhisky”. II doubt it’s drinkable yet, as it was only barrelled last year. But I thought about you, when I read about it.
Thank you for the interview about „Whisky and Witches“ and the insight into the different backgrounds.
Thank you very much. It was a pleasure

More about Christine Kammerer and „Whisky and Witches“ you can find HERE.
„Whisky and Witches“ at the Fringe
And HERE you can find her new album „Echoes of North“

(engl. version below)

Echoes of North“ ist das Debütalbum von Christine Kammerer, mit der ich mich vor ein paar Tagen über ihren Weg zur Musik und zur Entstehung des Albums gesprochen habe.

Sie ist in einer musikalischen Familie aufgewachsen, hat einen Hintergrund nicht nur in klassischer Musik, sondern auch im Heavy Metal. Im Laufe der Zeit hat sie sich immer mehr mit Folk-Musik auseinandergesetzt. Sie gründete die Band JOTUNGER, die sie als ihr „Dark-Folk-Projekt“ bezeichnet.

Christine Kammerer war schon früh von den Klängen keltischer Volksmusik begeistert. Volksmusik war in ihrer Familie ein wichtiges Element. So komponierte ihr Großvater, der aus Bayern stammte, auch Volksmusik. In Dänemark aufgewachsen kennt sie die dänische/nordische Volksmusik. Sie spezialisierte sich während des Studiums der Musikwissenschaft und vergleichenden Kulturwissenschaft auf frühe nordische Musik / Musik aus der sg. Wikingerzeit. So begann sie auch, sich mit den alten musikalischen und kulturellen Verbindungen zwischen Skandinavien und Schottland zu beschäftigen

Die Verbundenheit der skandinavischen und schottischen Klanglandschaften

Das Album „Echoes of North“ macht die Verbundenheit und die gemeinsamen musikalischen Wurzeln zwischen Skandinavien und Schottland hörbar und erlebbar.
Christine Kammerer geht es auch hier um Musik als Bindeglied, Kommunikationsmöglichkeit und Vermittler zwischen Menschen, verschiedenen Kulturen, Vergangenheit und Gegenwart.
Sie hat mit dem Album, dessen 10 Lieder auf Dänisch, Englisch und Gälisch gesungen werden, den Eigenheiten der skandinavischen so wie der schottisch-gälischen Musik ebenso viel Raum gelassen wie den Gemeinsamkeiten. Sie hat diese Elemente so zusammengefügt, dass sie ineinanderfließen und neue, wunderschöne Melodien und Lieder entstanden sind.
Unterstützt wurde sie dabei von Musikern aus Dänemark, Schottland und Norwegen. Musiker, die vorher noch nie zusammengespielt haben. Sie haben die Idee hinter den Liedern aufgegriffen und umgesetzt, indem sie den Melodien nach ihrem Verständnis spielen und den Liedern damit diesen ganz speziellen Charakter verliehen haben.

Echoes of North – Lieder auf Dänisch, Gälisch und Englisch

Das Album beginnt mit „I Dag Bryder Lyset Frem“ (Heute bricht das Licht hervor). Klavier und Geige leiten das Lied ein. Zunächst zurückhaltend und doch intensiv singt Christine von dunklen Momenten, die es in unserem Leben gibt. Davon, dass es ob so scheint, als ob sie das Leben bestimmen. Dann werden Stimme und Instrumente intensiver und erzählen überzeugt von der Hoffnung, dass dieses Kapitel enden und ein neues beginnen wird. Dass etwas kommen wird, wie ein Licht, das sich seinen Weg durch die Dunkelheit bricht.
Das Chorarrangement und vor allen Dingen dieser wunderbare Wechsel der Stimmlage, wenn das Licht („Lys“) besungen wird, zeigen die Zuversicht, ohne die Trauer über die dunklen Momente zu verschweigen.

Bereits in diesem Lied zeigt sich, was sich thematisch wie ein roter Faden durch das Album zieht: traurige, schwere, dunkle Momente gehören zu unserem Leben. Aber es gibt immer wieder diese stärkenden Augenblicke in denen ‚das Licht hervorbricht‘ und man sich wohlfühlt, sich zuhause, angenommen und angekommen fühlt. Und auch wenn ein Nachhall des Vergangenen bleibt, ist es möglich, etwas hinter sich zu lassen

Lieder vom Nach-Hause-Kommen

„Daffodils“ hat wunderschöne Melodien in Gesang und den Geigen. Er ist einerseits ein Folksong mit harmonischen Strukturen und einer Melodie, die eingängig ist und zum Mitsingen einlädt. Das Arrangement unterstreicht es durch Sequenzen, die leicht sind und zum Tanz einladen. Dennoch ist es mehr. Das Arrangement ist dicht und bietet beim wiederholten Hören viele Entdeckungen. Man merkt, dass die Musiker ihr Verständnis des Liedes umgesetzt haben.
Es ist ein wunderschönes Lied über Ereignisse, die in Erinnerung bleiben und uns in traurigen Momenten mit Freude erfüllen können. Der Reichtum schöner Erinnerungen.

Sehnsuchtsvolles Geigenspiel und Gesang prägen „Carry Me Home“. Christines Stimme ist eindringlich und schwebend zugleich. Es klingt, als ob sie uns an einen verborgenen, mystischen Ort mitnehmen will. Und vielleicht ist Nach-Hause-Kommen manchmal so, als ob man einen bis dahin verborgenen Ort findet.

Teach me the way of wind so I can flow
Lead me well and watch me grow
Carry me Home

Christine Kammerer

Klagelieder

Es folgen drei Lieder, die ich als zusammengehörend empfinde. Es geht um Klage, Abschied und Hoffnung.

„Mythical Lamentation 1“ wird lediglich durch die Stimme und die teifen, tragenden Töne des Organistrum gestaltet. Ein ergreifendes Stück.

Diese Grundstruktur wird in „Sol Står Stille“ weitergeführt. Der dänisch gesungene Text ist schön in seiner Bildsprache. Die Melodie und das Arrangement ermöglichen verschiedene Facetten der Klage. Das Lied klingt archaisch in der Melodieführung und im Arrangement mit Organistrum, Geige  und mehrstimmigem Gesang. Der Mittelteil mit lautmalerischem Gesang ist ein Gänsehautmoment.

„Mystical Lamentation2“ geht ebenfalls unter die Haut. Klavier, Geige, Cello,Tagelharpa und Gemshorn spielen ihre Klage und lassen am Ende wieder Hoffnung und Ruhe einkehren.

Mittelalterliches Dänisch in nordischen Runen

Und nun folgt „Drømte mig en drøm & Mermaids Croon“, das die Intention des Albums, den Gemeinsamkeiten skandinavischer und schottisch-gälischer Musik eine neue Form zu geben, umsetzt. „Drømte Mig en Drøm“ ist das älteste bekannte dänische Volkslied. Der Text ist mit nordischen Runen in mittelalterlichem Dänisch geschrieben .  „Mermaids Croon“ (Crònan na maighdinn-mhara) ist ein gälisches Volkslied. Wenn man auf die Musik hört, würde man wohl nicht auf die Idee kommen, dass es sich um zwei Lieder handelt. Christine Kammerer hat hier die Essenz der Lieder zu Klängen zusammengeführt, die zeigen, wie nah sich die Ausdrucksformen sind. So klingt es, wenn nordische Musik mit unterschiedlichen Wurzeln ihren Widerhall findet.
Erzählend klar und dann wieder sirenenhaft klingt die Stimme. Das Arrangement ist zart und die alten Instrumente erzeugen einen warmen Klang, in dem ich mich zuhause fühle.

„Sig Nærmer Tiden“ ist eines der Lieder, das mich nicht nur an Musik aus dem Norden erinnert, sondern auch an Volkslieder aus anderen Kulturkreisen. Ob es an der Melodie, der Melancholie des Liedes, das von der Flüchtigkeit des Lebens und von Abschied singt, liegt?

„In The Old Town“ ist wie eine Liebeserklärung an einen vertrauten Platz, der Sicherheit und der Seele Ruhe bietet. Wieder geht es um Zu-Hause-Sein, dem Thema, das Christine Kammerer sich von verschiedenen Seiten genähert hat. Immer intensiv, mit Bildern, die in jedem ein Echo hervorrufen werden – wie immer er Zuhause für sich versteht oder wünscht.

Schläfst du, während der Sturm tobt?

Mit „Jeg Kender Et Danmark“ endet das Album. Es ist ein kraftvoller Song, der davon handelt, für das einzustehen, was einem wichtig ist. Sie singt zwar von Dänemark – aber hier kann jeder den Namen seines Landes einfügen. Denn Ideale wie Gleichwertigkeit, Gerechtigkeit, Fürsorge sind doch die Säulen jeder Gemeinschaft, die beachtet und geschützt werden müssen.
Auch hier gefällt mir die Verschmelzung verschiedener Elemente. Z.B. wie der Dudelsack eingesetzt wird und sich mit den anderen Instrumenten und Melodien zu einem Klangbild zusammenfügt. 

Echoes of North – Widerhall des Alten im Neuen

Christine Kammerers Intention, die gemeinsamen Wurzeln der Musik Skandinaviens und Schottlands aufzuzeigen und zusammenzuführen, ist mit diesem Album gelungen. Dabei konnte sie mit Musikern aus Schottland, Dänemark und Norwegen zusammenarbeiten, die dies aufgegriffen und in ihrer Art umgesetzt haben. Dies macht den besonderen Charakter des Albums aus. Es zeigt auch, dass Musik und Emotionen eine universelle Sprache sind, und dass es Geschichten und Themen gibt, die in allen Kulturen eine Rolle spielen.

Die Instrumente und Melodien, Christines beindruckend vielseitige Stimme sind dabei wie Fäden einer Stickerei. Sie sind einzeln erkennbar und ergeben zusammen ein Motiv. Wenn man den Liedern zuhört, klingt Bekanntes und Neues an. Es gibt viel zu entdecken – und nicht nur für Folk-Fans!

Neben Christine Kammerer (Gesang, Klavier) waren mit dabei:
Adam McKenzie (Dänemark): Cello
Alison McNeill (Schottland): Geige
Fiona McNeill (Schottland): Gitarre und Bodhrans
Scott Figgins (Schottland): Dudelsack
Hans Christian Molbech (Dänemark): Flöte und Gemshorn
Christian Mohr Levisen (Dänemark): Drehleier und Tagelharpa
Kjell Braaten (Norwegen); Organistrum

Produziert und gemischt wurde das Album im Studio 1790 von Gavin Paterson (Schottland) und gemastert von Kjell Braaten Music (Norwegen).

Das Album „Echoes of North“ findet ihr HIER

Und hier „Jeg Kender et Danmark“

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Christine Kammerer’s Debut Album „Echoes of North“ Release Date: June 7, 2024

„Echoes of North“ is the debut album by Christine Kammerer, with whom I recently spoke about her journey into music and the creation of the album.

She grew up in a musical family, with a background not only in classical music but also in heavy metal. Over time, she became increasingly involved with folk music. She founded the band JOTUNGER, which she describes as her „dark folk project.“
Christine Kammerer was captivated by the sounds of Celtic folk music from an early age. Folk music played a significant role in her family. Her grandfather, who was from Bavaria, also composed folk music. Growing up in Denmark, she is familiar with Danish/Nordic folk music. During her musicology and comparative cultural studies, she specialized in early Nordic music/music from the Viking Age. This led her to explore the ancient musical and cultural connections between Scandinavia and Scotland.

The Connection of Scandinavian and Scottish Soundscapes

The album „Echoes of North“ makes the connection and shared musical roots between Scandinavia and Scotland audible and tangible. Christine Kammerer emphasizes music as a link, a means of communication, and a mediator between people, of different cultures, past and present.

With the album, whose 10 songs are sung in Danish, English, and Gaelic, she has given space to both the distinctive features of Scandinavian and Scottish-Gaelic music as well as their commonalities. She has blended these elements so that they flow into each other, creating new, beautiful melodies and songs.

She was supported by musicians from Denmark, Scotland, and Norway—musicians who had never played together before. They embraced the idea behind the songs and implemented it by interpreting the melodies in their own way, giving the songs a unique character.

Echoes of North – Songs in Danish, Gaelic and English

The album begins with „I Dag Bryder Lyset Frem“ (Today the Light Breaks Forth). Piano and violin introduce the song. Initially restrained yet intense, Christine sings of dark moments in our lives that seem to dominate. Then the voice and instruments intensify, convincingly telling of hope that this chapter will end and a new one will begin, like a light breaking through the darkness.
The choral arrangement and, above all, the wonderful change in pitch when singing about the light („Lys“) convey hope without concealing the sorrow over dark moments.

Already in this song, a theme that runs through the album becomes apparent: sad, heavy, dark moments are part of our lives. But there are always these strengthening moments when ‚the light breaks forth‘ and one feels at home, accepted, and arrived. And even if an echo of the past remains, it is possible to leave something behind.

Songs of coming home

„Daffodils“ has beautiful melodies in the vocals and violins. It is both a folk song with harmonic structures and a catchy melody inviting sing-alongs. The arrangement highlights this with light sequences inviting dance. Yet, it is more. The dense arrangement offers many discoveries upon repeated listening. One notices that the musicians have interpreted the song with their understanding.
It is a beautiful song about events that remain in memory and can fill us with joy in sad moments. The richness of beautiful memories.

Longing violin playing and vocals characterize „Carry Me Home“. Christine’s voice is both compelling and ethereal. It sounds as if she wants to take us to a hidden, mystical place. And perhaps coming home is sometimes like finding a previously hidden place.

Teach me the way of wind so I can flow
Lead me well and watch me grow
Carry me Home

Christine Kammerer

Laments

Three songs follow that I feel belong together. They are about lament, farewell, and hope.

„Mythical Lamentation 1“ features only voice and the deep, resonant tones of the organistrum. An evocative piece.

This basic structure continues in „Sol Står Stille“. The Danish lyrics are beautiful in their imagery. The melody and arrangement allow for various facets of lamentation. The song sounds archaic in its melody and arrangement with organistrum, violin, and multi-voice singing. The middle section with onomatopoeic singing is a goosebumps moment.

„Mystical Lamentation 2“ also strikes deep. Piano, violin, cello, tagelharpa, and gemshorn play their lament, and hope and peace return at the end.

Medieval Danish in Nordic Runes

Next is „Drømte mig en drøm & Mermaids Croon“, which fulfils the album’s intention of giving a new form to the commonalities of Scandinavian and Scottish-Gaelic music. „Drømte Mig en Drøm“ is the oldest known Danish folk song. The text is written in Nordic runes in medieval Danish. „Mermaids Croon“ (Crònan na maighdinn-mhara) is a Gaelic folk song. Listening to the music, one would not think these are two separate songs. Christine Kammerer has merged the essence of the songs into sounds that show how close the forms of expression are. This is how it sounds when Nordic music with different roots finds its echo.
The voice sounds clear and narrative, then siren-like again. The arrangement is delicate, and the old instruments create a warm sound in which I feel at home.

„Sig Nærmer Tiden“ is one of the songs that reminds me not only of music from the north but also of folk songs from other cultural circles. Is it the melody, the melancholy of the song singing about the transience of life and farewell?

„In The Old Town“ is like a declaration of love to a familiar place that provides security and peace for the soul. Again, it is about being at home, a theme Christine Kammerer approaches from various angles. Always intense, with images that will evoke an echo in everyone—however they understand or wish for home.

Do You Sleep While the Storm Rages?

With „Jeg Kender Et Danmark“ the album ends. It is a powerful song about standing up for what is important to you. Although she sings about Denmark, anyone can insert the name of their own country here. After all, ideals like equality, justice, and care are the pillars of any community that must be respected and protected.
Here, too, I like the merging of various elements. For example, how the bagpipes are used and blend with the other instruments and melodies into a soundscape.

Echoes of North – The Reverberation of the Old in the New

Christine Kammerer’s intention to highlight and bring together the shared roots of Scandinavian and Scottish music has succeeded with this album. She was able to work with musicians from Scotland, Denmark, and Norway who embraced and implemented this in their own way. This gives the album its special character. It also shows that music and emotions are a universal language and that there are stories and themes that play a role in all cultures.
The instruments and melodies, Christine’s impressively versatile voice, are like threads in embroidery. They are individually recognizable and together create a motif. Listening to the songs, both familiar and new elements resonate. There is much to discover—and not just for folk fans!

Alongside Christine Kammerer (vocals, piano), the album features:
Adam McKenzie (Denmark): cello
Alison McNeill (Scotland): violin
Fiona McNeill (Scotland): guitar and bodhrans
Scott Figgins (Scottland): Bagpipe
Hans Christian Molbech (Denmark): flute and gemshorn
Christian Mohr Levisen (Denmark): hurdy-gurdy and tagelharpa
Kjell Braaten (Norway): organistrum

The album was produced and mixed at Studio 1790 by Gavin Paterson (Scotland) and mastered by Kjell Braaten Music (Norway).

You can find it HERE.

And now „Jeg Kender et Danmark“

Good morning, Christine, you released the album „Echoes of North“ last month. You’ve already got a lot of other things on the way before that. There have been many experiences, projects, concerts, ideas and development processes that I would like to talk to you about today.

How are you today?
I am good. Everything has been a bit of a whirlwind for the past couple of months. I’m just about to go on tour, but it’ll be amazing. I can’t wait.

You will go on tour with “Whisky and Witches” or with your own songs and your new album?
In July I’ll go on tour in Denmark with my band JOTUNGER, and we just did a full band version of “Whisky and Witches” in Copenhagen with JOTUNGER and Alison McNeil and Fiona McNeil from my album. So with my dark folk project JOTUNGER I will have four Viking festivals in Denmark across July. And then in August, I’ll, we’ll have eight shows of “Whisky and Witches” at the Fringe in Edinburgh.

Wow. A lot to do. When preparing for the interview, I already thought there is a lot to talk about.You’re a singer and a composer, you play many instruments and have your Viking band, JOTUNGER, and you have been in the project “Raven Brings Runes”. And what I also like very much: you covered “The Dragonborn Comes”. And now you have your album “Echoes of North” and with “Whisky and Witches” an exciting idea for a whisky tasting.
As I got to know you through your music, I would like to start with some questions about your music first.

Her grandfather got her into playing music

How did you get into music? Are you from a musical family, or how did music become so important for you?
Well, yes, I come from a music family. And the reason why this interview is also quite important to me is that a lot of my family come from Bavaria, from Rosenheim. And it was my granddad who got me into playing music.
He was a folk musician and a composer as well. His name was Edwin Kammerer. He grew up in Rosenheim. Then he met my grandmother and moved to Denmark. They started a music school and I basically have lived at that music school. So I started playing piano when I was five or six and then started singing when I was around eight, got into a choir, had my first solo song when I was 11, which was yesterday. And then from there, I didn’t know how to not do music. So I studied music at high school and boarding school, what we in Denmark call Højskolen. I studied musical theatre, dance, singing. And then I went on to musicology at university.

What idea or intention did you have when you decided to study musicology?
 I’ve always been very taken by how music acts as an agent in society, what it can do to us interculturally and between, between people.

And your projects somehow all have to do with this idea.
Yes, I’ve done a lot of projects, and it has to do with how music creates bridges between different cultures and different people.

 And how did it come to make music your profession?
I think that’s one of the reasons why I studied musicology, because I always thought, I want to work with music.  But if I can’t live off performing, at least I want an academic background that allows me to work with it on a higher level and continue that work my entire life.

Have you often wondered whether this is possible?
Honestly, I went through a lot of doubting. But when I went out of university, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted to curate cultural heritage through music.

 “Hi, can you play weird instruments and come and do that full-time?”

What ideas did you have?
I wanted to make history come alive with music and I wanted to tell stories. So in 2018, I went on quest to find some musicians who wanted to do a Viking music project with me. And, and that’s how I found the musicians for GJALDULEI. A couple of years ago we decided to go in different directions. And we restructured the band and renamed it JOTUNGER.
So I started that and then, because, you know, there’s not a museum that has a post that says, “Hi, can you play weird instruments and come and do that full-time?” So I needed to do that myself.

JOTUNGER is now one of the best-known Viking bands in Denmark.
Yes, we played quite a few times at the National Museum. And we play a lot of different festivals.

When did you start to write music?
I’ve been writing since I was 15. And I still got some of those old songs. It was everything from a couple of the first real performances with my own music I played was at a small venue, a small bar in Denmark. And it’s just me and my guitar, and I just played some songs from the EP that I released in 2020.

So you can’t do without music because you are full of music?
I don’t know how to not play music. It’s not something I do, it’s something I am. And it’s the way I relate to the world and how I create connections with people. And it feels like this is what I can give the world. And I will keep giving it as long as I have something in me.

I believe that all people have music in them in one way or another. And that music is a good way to communicate with others and feel connected.  And that musicians show how this is possible.  How it is possible to communicate and understand each other without words.
Yeah, I totally love the way you talk about it.

I would like to come back to your Viking band JOTUNGER. There are a lot of discussions about how Viking music sounds like. A lot of people think that we can’t say how it sounded.
We don’t know how it sounds and so on. But I think it’s not so important. It’s how I understand it.

Just as an archaeologist cannot always be one hundred per cent sure that what he thinks about the finds is correct?
Yes. My background is in ethnomusicology. It is to understand cultural and collective identity and how that’s discussed through music and how it’s communicated through music. So my approach to Viking Age music is qualified guesswork.
We’re weaving a tapestry or a mosaic of the different influences we can find. So part of it is immersing yourself in the culture. And that’s why Viking, participating in Viking festivals are such a big part of what we do. Often, we sit in the environments and play our instruments to see what comes out.

“Music is something I am “

Christine told about her specialization in the lyre and the use of natural instruments in cultural and ritual contexts. And about understanding music more as something you use for a specific purpose rather than entertainment, even if it was entertainment. She collects old Scandinavian folk songs and continues her research in Scotland, where she plans a journey to the Shetland and Orkney Islands to study Norse, Celtic, and Pictish cultures.She explores old music traditions and scales, sometimes  based on bone flute findings, incorporating these influences into her music. When composing, she intuitively feels when the music is right.

She said: “If I try to force it into being something it’s not, I close. If it feels right, I open and I can lean into it. I had a song that I wrote last year at Moesgård Viking Moot in Aarhus, Denmark, and I was paid four pieces of amber to write music for a ship that was about to set out to sea. And I sat down at the beach, and I looked at the ship and I felt into. Okay, so what kind of spirits and gods and goddesses do you have to invoke to stay safe on a ship like that? Then I thought about, there’s an old folk song from Shetland that is a combination of Old Norse and a dialect from Shetland. And I thought, okay, what are they telling in that? Well, they’re singing about them having to be aware and how they need to navigate the ship. And then I thought, okay, if I build on that with some Norse gods, then I wrote the song in an hour, I think.”

She has also been working with the Scottish Crannog Centre in Kenmore and wrote songs for the opening.

Empowerment through music

Another project she is proud of is Joyous Choir, that emerged from an integration project. Women from different countries who sang together, literally just used their voice to communicate and convey feeling about things we all have in common as human beings: love, connection, community, home, and belonging.

Christine told about it: “And then I took all of those recordings and I picked out the different tonal structures that went through it and brought together a composition that we performed at the opening of the Scottish Crannog Centre. It’s called “Becoming Anew”. And it was stunning.”

It must be incredible to witness people coming together like this.
Yes, it was incredible to see how some of these women grew just by doing this composition. They took ownership over it. Even we couldn’t talk to each other properly, it brought us together and they just stood there in full force.

So, it is a kind of empowerment.
Yes, it makes people feel home when they are outside of their own country, of their own culture, that they know that they have this power that they can take things in their own hands. And in music, you can show it. You don’t have to talk about it. You can show it and they can feel it.

With JOTUNGER we did our take of Viking music

But back to JOTUNGER. You will do a lot more shows with them. And the idea behind it is like to retain cultural heritage. Did I get it right?           Yeah, definitely. There are many interpretations of Viking music. And with JOTUNGER we did our take on it. We’ve recorded an entire album that. So that’s going to be out this autumn and hopefully we’ll have a single out very soon as well. And we’ll do another one, I think, quite quickly after that, because part of what we do is Viking music, but part of it is something completely different, a lot more dark folk. And almost musical theatre, crossing over to classical or symphonic music folk. And we have an ambition to put heavy metal into the mix of that as well.

You will have Heavy Metal in it?
So, yeah, I used to play heavy metal when I was in my early 20s. I’m a huge metalhead. And I was in a symphonic metal band for four years. And I loved it. And I need to get back to the roots of doing that.Some of this can also be heard in the song „Jeg Kender Et Danmark“ on the new album. Not really heavy metal but that kind of, you know, edge.

A deep diving in traditional folk and grandfather’s influence

On “Echoes of North” you have a lot of beautiful songs. The fusion on Nordic and Celtic music and the storytelling is something new in a way. How did it come to you to do this fusion of Nordic and Celtic music?
Yeah, well, the Celtic has been a part of me for such a long time. And what I wanted to demonstrate there was how close our tonalities are to each other. The song “Dr​ø​mte Mig en Dr​ø​m & Mermaid’s Croon” is a fusion of the oldest Danish folk song and a Gaelic song. Two different songs brought together.
And I think that Scotland and Ireland as well, that type of Celtic music has been part of my life since I was 13, 14. I remember I got the first, the first Celtic Circle CD when I was 13 or 14. I bought it and listened to it five times or something. When I got older, I found Enya, Loreena McKennitt and a lot of others.  And then I started to dive deeper into traditional folk, Irish and Scottish folk

How did this music influence your style of writing music?
Yes, listening to all that Celtic music very much influenced my own style of writing from an early age, but also the way that my granddad wrote. There was something in that when I listened to Celtic music and the compositions that my granddad wrote, I thought there’s some interconnections here that I didn’t notice before.

Can you describe, what kind of connection it was?
My grandfather had arranged a simple melody, a very Nordic sounding thing. If you put a couple of notes on it, it instantly becomes more Celtic. Once you know it, it’s so easy to weave with and play with.
And I think the more I did Viking music, the more I did my own style of writing, which was very, very Celtic music-y. I wanted, one of the reasons I wanted to move to Scotland was to walk in the footsteps of the Vikings from Denmark and Norway in Scotland and in Ireland as well. So it feels like I started scratching the surface of it.

You worked with musicians from Scotland for your album. How did they react to your ideas and compositions?
Yes, I met some amazing Celtic traditional musicians. And I wonder what will happen if I put the Nordic rooted and Celtic rooted things I’ve done into the hands of them. How will they approach it? That was the whole idea behind the album.
And you know, Birgit, the musicians have never played together before they met in studio. I wanted to see what happens, without any bias, without any, what will you bring to this? And it was like we just breathe from the same set of lungs to some degree.

What happens if you put Nordic rooted music into the hand of Celtic musicians

That must have been a great experience.
We weave from the same fabric, just with different colours from different cultures that then have influenced each other in different ways. I almost become emotional talking about this because it’s, especially in a world like today, where it seems like everything’s falling apart a bit. People are getting more and more violent with each other.

Yes, it’s as if something like fragmentation is happening everywhere. Seeing differences is important. But we must not lose sight of what we have in common.
We are dividing each other more and more. Creating these small pockets where we come together, whether that was with the album, whether that was with what I did with the Joyous Choir, gives you hope. It allows you to breathe into a belief in humanity.

Was this thought part of the motivation for the album?
And that’s very much what I wanted to demonstrate with “Echoes of North”. And I will translate the Danish songs into English and put them into reference.

I think when we see what we have in common, it is easier to let people have their own things. Something like the workshop, the choir has shown that there are topics that are very important for everything, they are just expressed differently. I think that music, theatre, art and working together can show that we have more in common than we think. There are some basic things like the willingness to understand, being actively curious and a desire to understand.
And I think that’s why music, food, drink, so powerful because we can get together around those things. And it might, like you say, it might look different. But it is the same.

Musicians who knew how to listen can create otherworldly harmony

You said that the musicians you worked with never played together before and that you have been interested in how they will perform your music. How did it work? Have you been astonished about what happened?
So you know, the musicians I brought from Denmark, I’ve worked with them for years. Hans Christian Molbech, Christan Mohr Levisen, Adam McKenzie, he’s a Dane as well. We just understand each other, whenever we worked together.I’ve been so lucky to find musicians who very easily reach each other and me. It comes to me in a way that I can lean into in music. And I had the same feeling with Alison and Fiona McNeill and never met Scott Figgins, the bagpiper, before we were in the studio.

What do you think contributed to the fact that the collaboration worked so well?
I trusted the recommendations of people I knew, and I trusted my gut feeling. I brought together musicians who were not only extraordinary artists but knew how to listen. They knew how to be with each other and lean into each other. And I think I, I remember there was especially a time on “Carry Me Home” where the cellist and the violinist, Adam and Alison, came together and created this otherworldly harmony piece for the chorus.

It must have been wonderful to hear your idea realised in this way.
When I heard it, I broke down in tears. And it’s the same with “Mythical Lamentations”. We didn’t play “Mythical Lamentations” more than once or twice before we recorded it all together.
I think the take you hear on the album was the second take we did. And that for me it was the high heights of what happens when you put great artists together in the same room who have a willingness to listen and lean into each other. And I can’t wait to make more of that.

In other words, it’s about listening, not thinking too much, but empathising?
It only works in this way. And that was really incredibly powerful. And we played some of the songs at Copenhagen with “Whiskey and Witches”. Otherworldly experience. I sat there and I thought, aha, this is why I do what I do. It is just otherworldly. And even if you only listen to the to the album, you can feel it.

….to leave music in the hands of others – recording and mastering

Oh, I think it’s full of life. It’s not so ‘polished’.
It has to be lively and not everything absolutely perfect in some way. It has to be full of this connection. And that’s so great.

I think that with Gavin Paterson, who was responsible for recording, and Kjell Braaten, who did the mastering, you found exactly the right people for this album.
Yes, the reason I chose Gavin and Kjell was the exact same reason. I it’s a very fragile and very vulnerable thing to bleed your heart out like that in music. And they have the same way listening and doing music. Kjell hears what comes over and he can let it be, I think. And he also he contributed with some of his amazing instruments to the album.
I personally need to feel safe and heard 100 percent by the people I leave my music in the hands of. Gavin and Kjell know how to do that. And the way they know how to talk to me about my music and how to bring out what I want to bring out without saying it made me feel so much at home.

What else has made this „feeling at home“, being safe, possible for you?
I could really just break, you know, break free, break out. And when I finished recording my vocals and I just bent forward because I was so exhausted. I was so out of breath. And Gavin said: “I don’t know how you do that. I don’t know how you keep that level of energy.”

A fire inside and songs hard to write

And where do you get your energy from?
I feel like I have a fire inside that stands like this all the time.  and depending on how safe I feel, I will feel like I am. O if I can unleash my fire and be relaxed, then I fee I can live my full artistic potential.

That’s a great picture. But what about the stories? You used words, you used stories. What kind of stories did you use for this album?
Oh, yeah, that’s a good question. The songs on this album are about home, about connecting to home. And I didn’t realise that until I brought it all together. I followed my intuition; I followed what I wanted to do.

About being at home in Danmark and Scottland? Feeling home in the Nordic and Celtic music?
I knew that it had to be rooted in the roots of Celtic and Nordic with my other influences on it. So “In the Old Town”, that’s written about feeling at home in, you know, in an old town where the stones sing a song of long ago, where you feel a calmness that you can’t really describe. You breathe in a different way.
“I Dag Bryder Lyset Frem” Is perhaps one of the ones that was the hardest to write, but the most satisfying. It’s about certain people in my family and myself who have suffered from mental health issues and trauma in a lot of ways. Where that song specifically says, I know you’re going through this right now.I know it’s fragile. I know you’re hurting. But someday the light will break through, and you will find your home. It’s where that part of your story ends. And one of my favourite lines from that song is, a whole new era will be burst in the reverb from the old one. So the echo will stop at some point. But your birth will start in the echo of the era you just left.

So “Echoes of North” are not just the reverberation of the North?
These are the old songs, that’s lingering on. So I try to do that both with the stories, both with the music. If you take part of and listen all the way thorough from “Mythical Lamentations Part 1” to “Drømte Mig en Drøm & Mermaids Croon“, those four songs are created to get you into this space and be together.

Yeah, that’s what I felt about it, that they are connected. And, when I listen to the album, I must have heard these songs together before I stop.            Oh, that’s nice. That’s good to hear. That’s how it works. I think, yes.

About harvesting songs and being a conductor

It sounds as if you don’t ‚make‘ the stories and songs, but they come to you.
Yeah, what I usually say is that I go around the world harvesting stories. They have a life of their own. Like, I’m just a conductor.
Some stories you have to leave alone for a while because they’re not ready. It’s like they’re sitting there like a stubborn child and saying: “Five more minutes on my Gameboy, please”. You have to leave them alone because you can feel when a song needs to be taken and saying, okay, I will put myself in this room and I will not leave it until I’ve finished this.

So you see it as more of a task to give them a framework in which they can develop?
I have to place myself in the right surroundings where the stories can actually blossom, I think it’s the finest task for me to do. Because if I’m in the right place and they go through different stages, I will go outside perhaps and have a walk and then I’ll start harvesting melodies. You know, I’ll just go around, I’ll be relaxed in my head and the melodies start popping from different places and then I capture them.Sometimes there’ll be words in those melodies and then sometimes I’ll pick those words out. And then at some point I need to sit in a place, and I need to figure out what’s in this melody.

But there is always an idea, a feeling behind it.
Yes, an idea, a feeling. And so you have to look up what the music brings. It’s funny because I think more often than not, when I sing a specific melody, yeah, the story pops up.

This is another beautiful picture and a fitting end to this interview.

Pictures and stories not only play an important role on your album, but also when you want to bring history to life with JOTUNGER. And not least on „Whisky and Witches“, where you accompany a whisky tasting with stories and songs.

So, thank you very much for the interview so far!

“Whisky and Witches” – more about these incredible idee for a whisky tasting

And for all curious, whisky-loving metal heads:If you want to find out more about „Whisky and Witches“, the tasting, the creation of this format, the stories and also the history of women in the whisky industry past and present and the question of what witches have to do with it, then check back here in the next few days!

More about Christine Kammerer HERE and her Album „Echoes of North“ THERE