Leidungr - De Nio Kraftsångerna

In the era when the old traditions are becoming dust, when people start to forget their roots, when nothing is sacred, few souls desperately seek for reviving, and they look for the force to restore the pride of past generations. And the force was found in the image of Leidungr, a Sweden based project that was raised on the fertile soil of Puissance and Arditi. The project that was started by Henry Möller as a personal exploration of Swedish traditional folk elements grew up very fast to be something independent and mature enough to release the first album during the early 2013. The crew of three noble man joined forces for the album 'De Nio Kraftsångerna' (The Nine Power Songs) that found home on Equilibrium Music label, a natural choice for the product of such a quality.

Mister Möller defines the music to be Nordic Ritual Folk, and I think it is a pretty close description of this record's content. While listening to this creation, one has to keep in mind the Nordic mythology and the energy that it cultivates for many centuries already. While I dig the information from the various sources, I become more and more infused by the spiritual background of the ancient times long gone. I started to draw the parallels from the very beginning, as soon as the cosmos in Norse mythology consist of Nine Worlds, it can be compared to the Nine Power Songs of Leidungr. All the stories are pompous and solemn, describing the heroic deeds of gods and men. Therefore, the music reflects the exact point while Henry's rich experience in martial industrial scene plays a truly important role.

All the tracks of the album are very rich with the solemn orchestrations, choral samples, military rhythm drums and other components. The opening track "Nordisk Kult" breathes with a majestic spirit, anxious and tragic melody floats all around reminding the history full of battles and crusades. The same techniques are heard from "Principium Absolutae Primum" and "De Uråldriga", highly atmospheric and ritualistic tracks that are built around slow, creepy chanting.

"Vindålder" reveals the whole gamut of Leidungr and explains clearly why the new project is different from what I've heard from Arditi in the past, when a huge portion of guitar riffs and different folk instruments are added to what should seem to be a straight martial music. With "Gudomlig Dådkraft" and "Urnord" the band focuses also on a medieval component of the whole structure concentrating efforts on bard violin passages. I cannot pass by the title track "De Nio Kraftsångerna", that is for my opinion the best composition on that CD being a very energetic and yet mysterious theme. One of the elements that connects this album to the industrial scene is a constant looping of melodies inside the specific track, the technique which is significant to that kind of music and adds a lot of magnetism by its hypnotic ambience.

The music of Leidungr is soaked by northern mists, breathes with a chilling wind of icy plains, and smells with the rage and blood of heroic battles. A constant practice in rune magic helped the band to break the border of time continuum and reanimate the pride of epic centuries in the hearts of strong men. Wear your armor; take a sharp sword, a faithful companion of courageous deeds, and hail the legacy of ancestors with The Nine Power Songs. Jun 16 2013