Operaen, Oslo, Norway Saturday 26th April 2025
Wardruna are something of an enigma, delivering an individual interpretation of Nordic folk music and over the past ten years or so the band (and indeed the genre) have grown exponentially. Wardruna’s increasing popularity is down to their talent as songwriters and musicians, but also due to their passion and dedication to their art and to authenticity wherever possible with traditional instruments such as the Kravik Lyre, Tagelharpa, Lurs and goat horn all being used in their music and these would all be used during this concert.
I first caught Wardruna back in 2016, when I was completely blown away by their performance. Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to see them play many times in different countries, growing in stature with each year that passes including their current extensive tour. I had seen them play recently on the tour’s UK dates, but the opportunity to catch the band playing on the first night of the Norwegian leg of the tour, on home soil, and in the grand setting of Oslo’s Opera House, was too tempting to resist and so having only recently flown back to the UK from Inferno Festival, I found myself Oslo bound once more.
The Opera House itself is worth a visit, being a curiously shaped glass, granite and marble fronted building overlooking the fjord. Inside there are curved banks of oak panels separating the entrance foyer from the seated area. In the lead up to the concert, the bar in the opera house, and the seated area outside were full of those eagerly anticipating the event, and enjoying the glorious early evening sunshine. As well as those wearing Wardruna merchandise, there was an eclectic mix of people wearing casual attire, suits and evening dresses and those in leather jackets with black metal logos in every direction (and several Gorgoroth shirts in a nod to Einar’s previous affiliation).
The doors to the seated area opened at about 19:40, twenty minutes before Wardruna were due to begin. The gathered masses politely filtered into the plush venue and quietly took their seats. The venue is a modern structure and as such is perfect for concerts. The layout of the seats means that everyone has a good view and nobody is too far from the stage. Furthermore the seats are spacious and comfortable, and as you might expect the acoustics are outstanding.
The stage was set up as it has been on recent tours with white netting draped down the back of the stage, and across the wings serving as a backdrop for images and shadows to be projected onto later on, but to start with, the Wardruna logo was proudly and boldly on display. There were a variety of instruments strategically positioned on the stage ready for use, as well as a lot of foliage giving the image of this set being performed ‘in nature” rather than in a sleek modern building.
The lights went down and the band were greeted to the stage by a polite, but enthusiastic, round of applause as the familiar introduction to ‘Kvitravn’ was played, with images of a white raven being projected on the back to the stage. Initially the bass and Einar’s vocals overpowered the rest of the sound as they resonated around the venue, but this was quickly rectified leaving a perfect sound. ‘Hertan’, from the latest album, followed, with the hypnotic percussion sounding like a heart beating, combining perfectly with Lindy-Fay Hellas enchanting vocals. The sombre tomes of ‘Skugge’ followed, with the track bursting to life half way through. Einar’s vocals were powerful and impassioned. Birds tweeting heralded the arrival of ‘Solringen’ with its upbeat meoldy, with Einar and Lindy-Fay combining perfectly with their complementary vocal styles.
The track saw a bright orange circle (the “sun ring”) slowly appear on the backdrop as the song evolved, before the song faded out.
An emotive ‘Lyfjaberg’ followed shortly after with an image of a mountain in the background as dry ice cascaded off the stage into the front row of seats. There was a change in atmosphere next as the rest of the band vacated the stage, leaving Einar to deliver an emotive version solo of ‘Voluspá’. The simple, repetitive melody was captivating and even a little haunting as it combined with the poignant vocals, which were powerful and yet vulnerable at the same time. Such a fantastic vocal performance.
‘Tyr’ saw Eilif Gundersen join Einar Selvik at the front of the stage, both playing a Lur with shadows of the two men and the imposing instruments projected onto the backdrop, while ‘Grá’ saw Einar move further back on the stage, playing a frame drum as part of the pulsating rhythm section. A short while later, the sound of cawing and crashing waves heralded the arrival of ‘Rotlaust Tre Fell’ as the atmosphere continued to build in the Opera House, with the song culminating in its dramatic climax and a lightning strike projected onto the backdrop.
The atmosphere was more subdued for the sublime, subtle melodies of ‘Fehu’ before a brief pause in proceeding where Einar addressed the crowd. However, before he had chance to say anything, the crowd was on their feet giving a standing ovation. Once the crowd settled, Einar gave the same reflections that he always does at this point, musing that the band is not about time travel, or trying to be vikings, nor about one culture being better than another. He also considered that some things from the past are better left in the past, while others should be cherished, preserved and even rekindled, such a singing. He goes on to say that there used to be songs for all aspects of life including death, and laments the loss of this. Of course this led into ‘Helvegen’, which was introduced as a song about death and dying, a song about remembering and honouring someone and singing them to the other side and letting go.
Flames were lit as the stage was bathed in red light giving a sombre atmosphere which was the perfect accompaniment for the emotional, powerful rendition of this track, which in many ways embodies everything that Wardruna are about. I always find this song to be poignant, and was left with goosebumps as the line “…dei spora eg trår er kalde, så kalde” was repeatedly left hanging in the heavy atmosphere. The song was brought to a close with Einar’s touching solo passage, before the crowd took to their feet once again for more rapturous applause.
The band joined together at the front of the stage to take a well deserved bow, After thanking the crowd, and looking genuinely humbled, Einar asked whether the applause was the Oslo way of asking for one more track. This was met with a roar of approval and Einar dutifully obliged with a touching solo rendition of the the wonderful ‘Hibjørnen’. There were some final thanks from Einar, before the lights came up and crowd filed out into the mild Norsk evening.
On paper, this had been an exact copy of recent times that I have seen Wardruna play including their recent show in Jorvik, but this had the air of something special, Whether it was the fact that it was home soil, or the elegant venue, or the respectful crowd (virtual silence through the performance and only the very occasional phone videoing), but this felt like something very special, and I was pleased that I had made the trip, nay pilgrimage, to Kristiania.
Words and Pictures (discretely from the crowd on a point and shoot):
Andy Pountney
@shot_in_the_dark_photography2
Walking The Liminal Space 