From the opening droning sounds of Hedningarna’s album Trä (Swedish for “wood”), I was swept away to strange mythical lands far to the North. The first thing you will notice is the ethereal female vocal duo by Anita Lehtola and Liisa Matveinen. This is especially prevalent in the opening number, Täss’on Nainen (Here’s A Woman). But the journey is propelled by more than the vocals, as punkish dissonance and creative rhythms push ahead like a turbo engine. What I find interesting is how this is often done without a fast tempo.

In case you aren’t familiar with this group (few people in the States are), Hedningarna (The Heathens) is a group from Scandinavia that try to merge the brutal side of Nordic folk music with more modern influences.

As the web sites say:

Their newly created tunes are an extension of the living tradition inspired by the melodies of their forebears. The intensity of modern technology mixed with the flavor of ancient instruments and tunes creates the explosive, intense sound of Hedningarna.

There are so many wonderfully explosive songs on this album which induce an intense current of energy, that this album has become my regular obsession.

One of my favorite songs is track 5, SkrauTvål which has a very traditional-sounding fiddle that escalates in intensity until it butts up against the haunting vocals and jaw harp.

Another song, track 6, Räven (Fox Woman), that sings about an encounter between the singer and an anthromorphic creature that seems to symbolize the union of the civilized and the wild shadow. It begins with a breathy rhythmic pace that echos the footsteps of a fox through the woods as it juxtaposes against a lumbering bass/drum/jaw harp combo that mimics the human hunter before the two stumble into each others path.

There is much to learn about this new Scandinavian music and the culture that produced it … I mean, how can you beat a song like Pornopolka (Porno Polka) that takes a rather randy traditional text and puts new music to it. Simply fabulous, and I highly recommend it.