I saw Huldre years ago during the fantastic Trolls et Légendes festival in Mons, Nanna Barslev also played over there with her 2 other bands (Asynje & GNY) and has stolen our heart. I was impatient to get their new pearl and listening to it feels like opening a treasure chest!
Our friends from Denmark play a very nice folk metal about trolls, faeries, old Nordic stories … They also use some typical medieval instruments and normally don’t go on stage without putting some three’s on stage or some green plants. Nanna is a great singer and moves like a whirlwind on stage. Important to know is that are loyal to the Nordic and Danish language, but once you dive into their music you just lose yourself and forget about the language barrier.
They start with Jagt: a song with a flute, violin, hurdy gurdy, sharp guitars, exploding drums and Nanna presenting her vocal powers (dancing on the chords: up and down, fast and slow …). The production sounds much better that their previous album: more balanced and richer. It’s clear that they have taken their folk metal to a higher level and are more experienced. I can’t wait to hear this one on stage! Hindeham goes from happy folk metal to heavy grunting and screaming. I feel it was written to play on stage and go nuts. It’s one of these tracks you absolutely must have!
Varulv has something sad whilst Nanna’s voice even goes a bit in Opera modus whilst the guitars and drums are on fire. Towards the end we get a grand finale. It feels like the perfect end track for a heated up gig. Underjordisk is a hard hitter and fast track, feels like horses on the run. Skifting starts with percussions and a cool bass and slowly grows out to be a very tense song with lots of mood swings. Faestemand sounds very soft and very folky (a bit like Asynje), Nanna’s voice on this one is just heavenly. I can see the crowd clapping hands towards the end and others bending their head holding arms in the air. Morke sounds pretty fueled, led by an angelic voice: exploding towards the end. Taering is another hard hitter whilst the end track starts with a very sad feel. Nattesorg has a retro guitar sound and a hypnotic rhythm. Halfway the song explodes a bit, with the help of the guitars and the violin.
After all this I simply can’t wait to see Huldre back on stage. Possible date might be the Trolls et Légendes fest in Mons …
