Norse Mythology

(VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT/LEY LINE ENTERTAINMENT/FIS EIREANN/SCREEN IRELAND/PROTAGONIST PICTURES (89 minutes; Rated R);2024)

“We should not be here,” says Miss Eva (Odessa Young) as the men respectfully call her, in a brief voice-over to start this very grim, unsettling tale of members of a remote Icelandic fishing village struggling with the elements in a hellish late 19th-century seascape. She ain’t a-kidding; only a group of hardy, tougher-than-nails Nordic types could endure the relentless cold and darkness, the isolation and the variable fishing results of being here in this environment. “It was a place of opportunity if you could enjoy the cold,” we’re calmly told, but skepticism would be the healthy response to that upon seeing the dark gloomy skies, the bundled-up participants and the need to drink heavily and crack manly jokes that the bearded dudes here routinely engage in. As eerily beautiful as the cinematography (by Eli Arenoson) is, there’s an atmosphere of doom and ill portent soon after you are immersed in this striking North Sea setting, which the dramatically somber music (wonderfully scored by Stephen McKeon, who serves this tale remarkably well with his sonic choices) enhances at every turn. The only other female member of this crew, Helga (Siobhan Finneran), tells a spooky story by firelight early on, broken up by laughter at the end… but the camera lingers on Eva’s face effectively as she listens to the dark atmospheric tale. You get the sense that things could go on in this manner on almost a daily basis, with an obvious intimacy and mutual dependency anchoring the lives of these villagers.

But things are about to get MUCH worse. In the distance, we see another group of fisherfolks struggling mightily with their own craft, obviously in distress. The humane thing to do would be to go help them, right? But the serious danger in this situation puts Eva and company in agreement that “helping those men would put YOUR lives at risk.” When they think things have calmed a bit, they all row out in their barely suitable rowboat to see if they can salvage some supplies. It’s an absolutely striking scene, reminiscent of scenes from Robert Eggers’ THE NORTHMAN, and as visually and emotionally dark a scene as you could imagine, creepy as hell. Speaking of which, all actual hell breaks loose when some of those desperate villagers, clinging to some large rocks, start trying to reach Eva’s crew and fight for a spot on their still-functioning boat. It’s a chaotic, terrifying and surprising violent scene that will have you questioning the complex morality of the situation and how YOU might behave in this scenario. It’s simply a no-win situation, and the filming by director Thordur Palsson is stunning here – unforgettable, in fact. Again, the many closeups of Odessa Young’s traumatized expressions and barely controlled fear, are memorable. But Helga and company think an evil force of some kind has been unleashed, and who could disagree? Especially after the body count mounts, and a disgusting scene sort of reminiscent of an iconic scene in ALIEN, is the last straw for some of our “heroes.” “The long winters here play tricks on your mind,” a worried Daniel (Joe Cole) says to Eva as he teaches her how to hold and shoot a rifle, in a scene that hints of a possible romantic vibe. That’s followed by a highly energetic scene, very cinematic and reminiscent of the drunken dancing and singing by Merry and Pippin in a memorable LORD OF THE RINGS sequence, when our villagers are in the mood to celebrate a particularly good catch. But that’s the last such moment of positivity anyone will enjoy. Shadowy entities, hallucinations, a shocking suicide and Eva’s understandable declaration that “we have to get RID of this thing,” dominate the film’s final third. If you like seeing characters trying to find HOPE in a reality of hopelessness, this tale should keep you mostly riveted.

THE DAMNED is a lean 90 minutes or so long, and all the characters are absolutely believable, looking and sounding like tormented Icelanders although some dialogue is a bit hard to follow. The setting pulls you right in, and while there are a few horrifying moments, it’s not in any way an “over-the-top” horror movie. It’s more an atmospheric character study of tormented people stuck in a desperate situation, with Odessa Young anchoring the tale in a genuinely credible performance. The ending is not gonna be to everyone’s taste, and clearly was NOT if you go by the “user reviews” on the IMDB page. And this kind of “slow burn” piece of cinema will be too dark or even boring for some. But I found THE DAMNED to be rather hypnotic, immersive, darkly beautiful and rather original in its overall script, direction and focus on exactly where it was going. Admittedly, I tend to be a fan of “grim wary tales,” as you might call this, and I watched it with full attention throughout, struck by how well all the haunting components worked together to keep you hooked like the doomed fish our villagers devote their livelihoods to catching.

(INDIE RECORDINGS; reissue, 2014; original release, 2009)

Let’s just get this out of the way upfront. It IS okay to play favorites when you’re a music writer. I wouldn’t believe ANYONE who says they like everything the same; we all have our favorites. And while anyone bold enough to write about music or art in a public forum better at least be open-minded, it is normal and human to be drawn to certain things more than others. A whole host of factors determine one’s personal aesthetic and predilections, and these generally change as you grow older. So I just wanted to say all this by way of explaining my delirious response to the Norwegian group Wardruna. I’m well known for loving Scandinavian music, especially what comes out of Norway and the rustic forests of Finland. I also tend to love anything that’s weird and unclassifiable, and I am an avowed ambient music fanatic. So, imagine how enthralling it must be for me to encounter this Norse trio, who are plenty weird, plenty ambient, and absolutely committed to their quest to conjure up a sound that evokes old Viking mythology, the darkness along ancient rocky shores, and the fiery passions of a people so tied to a beautiful, cold, mountainous land far away that nothing else matters except their homes, their families, their lifestyle and their surroundings. The sound of this recording is not “unearthly” per se, although some may call it such. What it IS, though, is wild, untamed, eerie, primal, awe-inspiring and deeply mysterious. Parts of it sound like bits of the score from the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy (it’s well-known that composer Howard Shore drew from Norse mythology for some elements of LOTR), parts are reminiscent of Dead Can Dance (only superficially, though) and most of it is rich in the traditional folk stylings of Norway’s boundless musical past.

Wardruna performs at Vikingskipshuset (The Viking Ship Museum) in Oslo Norway, 2010 (photo credit: wardruna.com)

So, who is behind this spellbinding sound? Let’s meet them, shall we? The chief visionary is Einar Kvitrafn Selvik, who apparently writes everything and plays most of the instruments, along with his deep-register vocalizing. Lindy-Fay Hella is the woman in the group, and she contributes amazing, much needed female vocals. And Gaahl is credited on vocals and “conceptual contributions.” This GAP VAR GINNUNGA project is part one of a planned trilogy about runes. What’s that, you ask? Let’s just quote right from the group’s website here: “The ongoing RUNALJOD trilogy is a musical rendition of the 24 runes in what is often referred to as the Elder Futhark. Some of the recordings are done outdoors in places or under circumstances of significance to each rune. Wardruna primarily use old and historical instruments such as primitive deer-hide frame drums, kraviklyra, tagelharpe, mouth harp, goat horn, lur and more. Non-traditional instruments and other sources of sound like trees, rocks, water and torches are also used.” Are you better prepared now, listeners? Well, I doubt it, because no description is truly apt for the mighty, immersive, sonic grandeur this trio has forged. And lemme tell you, “forged” is a better word than something as bland as “recorded.” You don’t sit down and “record” stuff like this. You sculpt and chisel it out of the very foundation of your SOUL, using materials tied more to the earth than anything the average musician picks up. The vocal incantations, drones, ancient horns, percussive THUMPS and thoroughly mysterious other instruments take you to another time, another place, a dreamscape so far away from your normal reality that you can’t believe it exists out there. This is a history lesson without the names or events, a trip to an exotic place without having to drive, fly or sail, an experience in unbridled passion without having to touch or question the motivations of your partner. Wardruna are making living, breathing, stirring musical art that anyone with even mildly adventurous musical taste should revel in. It’s unforgettable, music that is at one with the ancient power of nature in a manner unattainable by most recordings.

Wardruna (Lindy-Fay and Kvitrafn) (publicity photo)

And listen, picking out individual song titles is not particularly relevant in this case. It’s all of a piece, one track flowing into the next. The titles are in Norse anyway: “Hagal,” “Bjarkan,” “Jara,” “Laukr,” et cetera. Speaking of “Laukr,” by the time I got to that eighth track, I was already so deliriously grateful for what this group had laid down for us that I knew the kind of review I was going to write. This music renders most adjectives inadequate. Wardruna have power, majesty, the singular intent of all the best art, the confidence that what they are embarking on is more than worthy, and the musical skill to capture the organic ebb and flow common to the best listening experiences. This stuff isn’t for you if you only like pop or rock and roll. But if you liked being STIRRED, haunted and enthralled by music and the mysteries of life, check out Wardruna. You will NOT forget what you hear. Oh, and Norway? You keep raising the bar SO high for interesting aural creations, what are the rest of them out there gonna do? Not your problem, though… just keep on being beautiful, provocative and wildly yourself, dear. Some of us appreciate you a ton, and we’ll see to it that only the most DESERVING get to experience your secrets.

THE DAMNED

WARDRUNA: RUNALJOD – GAP VAR GINNUNGA

WHAT’S INSIDE