ALBUM REVIEW: Hugsjá – Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik
Ivar Bjørnson of ENSLAVED and Einar Selvik from WARDRUNA have paired up once again, after their last successful experimental album A Piece for Mind & Mirror, featuring the beautiful Skuggsjá, to form this poetic and stunning album, Hugsjá. They bring with them their collected experiences and talents, crafting this masterpiece that sends the listener hurtling through time to a much simpler age of ritualistic anthems and chants.
Hugsjá certainly has a story to tell, the composition and use of traditional instruments lends to the creativeness and authenticity of the sound, with atmospheric and hauntingly beautiful vocals accompanying it and bolstering the emotion behind each track.
Starting of with the title track, Hugsjá enters the fray with a strong reverberating tone, setting the scene for the rest of the track. The melancholic and low-key instrumentation continues throughout, empowering, and shamanistic vocals cutting through the air. Before Hugjsá comes to a close, strings, pipes, drums and voices culminate into a singular immense and swelling cacophony of what one can only describe as emotion made manifest. WulthuR continues this theme, albeit a slightly upbeat and jovial tone, while still maintaining the style of the previous song. However, there isn’t as much progression for the duration, relying on the repetition more than anything.
Ni Døtre av Hav and Ni Mødre av Sol, are songs about the nine daughters of the sea and the nine mothers of the sun. Both tracks are chilling and should be experienced together and in the listed order to really understand what the music is saying, particularly if you don’t speak the language. The former is a great display of progression and storytelling through music, while the latter seems to lack in notable sections. This isn’t to say it is a bad track by any means, however it leaves you wanting more. Nattseglar is quite different from the rest of the album, taking musical inspiration from modern music, with the timings and use of reverberation as well as including what sounds like guitar and bass in the background, but heavily distorted and used as a filler, rather than the forefront, as is typical with modern music. As with the entirety of Hugsjá, the vocal performance is outstanding, and serves the tone and thematic style of the album extremely well. The introduction and the outro share similar timings, with a somewhat simple but impactful drum beat, similar to those found more commonly in hip-hop.
A truly magnificent and impressive track, quite possibly on the entire album is Oska. Its unparalleled ability to deliver on all fronts is what makes it truly stand out. The upbeat tempo and overall rhythm raises the spirits, and is reminiscent of classic progressive rock, with a steady evolution and the trademark vocals of the duo. Around the midway mark, the instrumentation begins to taper off, leaving the bare-bones and vocal talents to groove together, in a dark and ritualistic chant, feeding off the primal, animistic traits that man has long abandoned. It ends with the music slowly dampening, before near silence, and nothing but the crackle of firewood remains.
Overall, Hugsjá is a phenomenal piece of art, from both a musical, historical and folklore point of view. The tales and Edda’s within, combined with the stunning use of classical and authentic instruments and composition, transform this album into an absolute masterpiece. It truly is a beautiful piece of art that not only sounds great but is quite the emotional trip if you let go and bask in it’s enchanting soundscapes.
Rating: 9/10
Hugsjá is set for release on April 20th via By Norse Music. Pre-orders are available now and can be purchased here.