DANHEIM : "Heimferd"

This Danish project might sound familiar, as their music was featured on the show "Vikings".  Denmark is closer to the source material than if this were some culturally appropriating Americans. The first track is more solemn, with a feeling of longing brought to life by the hand pipes. Decent music to drink your coffee to as the fall brings a chill in the air. Vocals come in on the second song. If you are playing Dungeons & Dragons or like to imagine you're preparing for battle when you go to the gym, then it might be inspiring. It's a little darker than the first song. 

These albums are much like soundtracks in the sense that they are about capturing a mood more than being songs that stand on their own to feet. Once you start listening to an album like this, it can fade into the background. Even headliners like Wardruna are susceptible to this. There is more of a hypnotic groove to "Haukadalur", however, due to the atmospheric nature of what they do, which is prone to droning, the title track feels like it is more hypnotic tribal jam out of the previous song.  

Sonically, it benefits him to not be limited to just using traditional folk instrumentation, as he is allowed a wider range of production effects to create some interesting sounds. Some of these feel more like cinematic backdrops, which are the intro for the actual songs. "Kominn Dagr" has vocals that give it more more alluring feel. But it's the beat of "Runmykr" that makes it feel more like a song. This sense of movement keeps it from falling into the same droning trap that begins to give the songs a uniform feel.

The feeling of a brooding storm rolling in over the North Sea is summoned on "Stormdans".  This carries a folk dance feel with it to contrast the more foreboding undercurrent. Then they fall back on moments like "Valvejen" that blend into the previous song and feel like an extension of its drone. The rest of the album begins to drift in this direction, working best when vocals are there to help break things up. A chorus of voices chimes in for what sound like a majestic requiem to make for one of the album's strongest moments. I will give this one a 9 as it's a solid effort that sounds great and sets the intended mood even if it's hypnotic sways sometimes lull you into a faraway land with less focus on songwriting.This album drops Halloween on Season of Mist.  

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