Garmarna

Origins. Garmarna has always been all about origins – and absolutely nothing about origins. True, you might be able to trace influences, but at the core, Garmarna’s music has never been anything but their own – for 30 years now. Back then there was no broader interest in a modern take on medieval Scandinavian Ballads about blood, sex and gore (strange right?). There were no Viking soap operas on tv, no mix of Nordic anything, no ideas of winters coming. Today things have changed. But Garmarna remains, true to themselves and their ideas. A steadfast stronghold in everything loosely labelled Nordic, medieval or even folk rock. What about the origins? Rather than listing elements that can be found – drones, traditionals, originals, beats, crystal clear vocals… – the origins are to be found in the f**k all attitude. A traditional Estonian choral (about death, of course) with hard rockin’ drums, a distorted bass line and all synthesized harmonies? Well, if it works, why not? By being themselves, by daring not to compromise, by creating the music they love, Garmarna created one of the corner-stones of the contemporary folk scene. Listen closely and you’ll pick it up. The bits and pieces from here and there, now and then. From Scandinavia or anywhere – from everything contemporary and recognizable but also the elderly and nearly forgotten. Mixed origins, still an unmistakably coherent and complete whole.