Sometimes you just know that reviewing an album is going to be an enjoyable experience. Perhaps it is the artwork calling to you, or maybe a well-written biography has caught your attention – but whatever it is, there’s an air of anticipation as you place the disc in the player. In the case of Danish folk metal act Huldre it was the stunning artwork that adorns their album ‘Intet Menneskebarn’ that captured the imagination. Housed in a beautiful digipack, the booklet that accompanies the album is both wonderfully evocative and a testament to what bands can do if they have only the inspiration and ambition to pull it off.
The album does not disappoint. In recent years there have been any number of folk metal outfits of varying quality appearing and it is certainly a genre in which new bands struggle to make headway if they can’t offer something new to the table. Huldre have three key strengths, however. Firstly there is the imagination and ambition that is apparent not only in the album’s wonderful packaging, but also in the complex musical arrangements that abound. Secondly, in Nanna Barslev the band have a vocalist who combines the mysticism of Jarboe, the devastated, haunting vocal qualities of Marianne Faithful and the impressive range of Sharon Den Adel over the course of a performance that is, in all honesty, without compare. Finally the band comprises a core group of musicians who excel at their respective instruments. Aside from the traditional rock elements of guitar, bass and drums, the band also comprises a full-time violinist, a flautist (who also plays the Hurdy-Gurdy) and Lasse, the talented guitarist, also plays the lute. In short Huldre more than have the skill, the imagination and the ability to offer plenty of innovation to an overcrowded genre and, on the eleven songs on offer the album, they do just that.
Opening with the haunting violin of ‘Ulvevinter’, Huldre have carefully balanced the metallic elements making sure that there is power and precision but that they do not overpower the folk instruments. Nanna sings in her native tongue, which fits the music perfectly and sets Huldre apart as a band hell-bent on doing this on their terms. It is a pleasure to hear the unfamiliar syllables swirling through the music and it makes listening to the album a special experience that evokes powerful images of far flung, desolate landscapes, undisturbed by the ravages of human habitation and layered with frost and dead leaves. The music is stunning – the metallic elements harking back to a more classic rock feel than the more deathly approach taken by bands such as Eluveitie – and the whole band work well together, cleverly weaving their sounds together in a manner that sounds both natural and laden with magic. ‘Trold’ wields a powerful, chunky riff that is restrained enough to allow the folk elements to flourish in the spaces between riffs and Nana’s vocals to flourish over the top, her stunning voice ranging from glorious peaks to earthy lows as the music demands. It is a magical performance and one that sets both Nana and Huldre as a whole out as something very special indeed.
Having drawn you in with their mystical musical web, ‘Skovpolska’ sees the band flexing their musical muscles with some remarkably dense, hypnotic work that sees the violin crawling along your nerve endings as the guitars fizz and spit in the background, the star of the show always the bewitching Nana who flits, tantalisingly, just out of reach and out of sight through the trees and streams in which you find your mind wandering. ‘Brandridt’ is a more straightforward track, at least by Huldre’s standards, although it contains a beautifully played central movement that would inspire even the dead to dance. ‘Gennem Marsken’ takes the opposite approach of its forebear, toning down the metal for a track that is pure medieval dance, so that even when the guitars do return, about a minute into the track, they are very much subservient to the atmosphere already woven by the traditional folk instruments. Opening on a creepy note, ‘Vaageblus’ is an atmospheric number that sees the frozen mists of dusk descend over the imagined landscape of Huldre, as huge doom-laden guitars churn and boil in the undergrowth before exploding forth in a frantic display of blackened fury. One of the heaviest tracks here, it sees Nana’s stunning vocal performance adding a soothing balm to the full-tilt performance of the band, and you can imagine this one will be absolutely crushing live.
Never afraid to shift sound and mood entirely, ‘Havgus’ sounds like the result of an experiment to cross Kate bush with traditional Danish folk music and Iron maiden, its mood lighter and more whimsical than the savage ‘Vaageblus’ which so furiously asserted the band’s metal credentials only one track previously. ‘Spillemand’ is an instrumental that gives the band a chance to shine before the haunting beauty of ‘Beirblakken’ leaves the listener shattered and lost within the dreamscape woven by the band. ‘Knoglekvad’ sees the mists lighten as the flute trills out and the guitars provide a storming, trad-metal backdrop to Nanna’s vocal gymnastics. Final track ‘Skaersild’ rounds the disc out with an initially mournful piece that  rapidly picks up, leaving the album (and the listener) on an emotional high after such a rollercoaster ride through the wilds of Huldre’s collective imagination.
It’s not easy to add anything new to any genre, but when the genre is as packed as the folk metal scene, it becomes even more tricky a proposition. That Huldre carry this off with such aplomb with their debut album should demonstrate what a remarkable and truly special act they are. Like the very best folk music, Huldre’s power lies in their ability to transport the listener body and soul to another place, far from the urban decay and monstrous noise and pollution of the cities, where mother nature is the goddess and where humans exist off the earth, living in symbiosis with nature rather than raping the land for all its worth and plundering nature’s treasures in a never-ending quest for convenience over achievement. It is a beautiful, intelligent, breath-taking masterpiece that breathes new life into the genre and which is as grand, as bewitching and as haunting as the power of nature itself.
Find out more at the band’s official website here.
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