Gjallarhorn

This is the new image of world music" Folk Roots/ United Kingdom

"This CD secures Gjallarhorn a safe place at the very top of Scandinavian folk music." Michael Moll / Folk World

"This group fuses contemporary and traditional music to create a unique experience." Horizont Music /Germany

"Grimborg is the third album from Finland's amazing Gjallarhorn, one of the leading lights of Scandinavia's lively folk scene. Grimborg is another stellar release from one of the most musically interesting areas on Earth." Michael Toland

"... this is full-blooded, gutsy beauty." - Folk Roots

"This CD secures Gjallarhorn a safe place at the very top of Scandinavian folk music." Michael Moll / Folk World

"This group fuses contemporary and traditional music to create a unique experience." Horizont Music / Germany

"This is the new image of world music" - Folk Roots "… their music reaches you though the language barrier with effortless beauty and strength". - Rootsworld

"..like nothing we have heard before by the quartet led by the celestial voice of Jenny Wilhelms; which to my concern, is one of the most revealing female leading voices of the nowadays prog scene and the one that has been eternally consistent." . This production is impeccable and a must to unpredictable and audacious proggers. You'll get hooked on their music. - Prog Archives - Various music magazines and critics

© BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
Published January 2007 edition

GJALLARHORN
Rimfaxe

Originally hailing from the chilly climes of Ostrobothnia, (a Swedish-speaking part of Finland), the quartet Gjallarhorn have made some dense, dark, and sometimes 'difficult' music in the past decade. Their fourth album Rimfaxe gets the shadows-and-light balance just right, thanks in no small part to mixing and 'sonic design' by Bruce Swedien, also known for his work on Michael Jackson's Thriller album. There's a strong sense of place and adventurous narrative throughout this set of radically modern takes on medieval hymns and ballads, leavened with a racing 'bonfire song', a 'cow call improvisation' and more. The piercing, ice-clear voice of sole original member Jenny Wilhelms is their most striking asset, best heard on 'Hymn'. And the strangest sound is the extraordinary moaning of Göran MÂnsson's sub contrabass recorder, in place of the didgeridoo the band once used for drone effects. Master percussionist Petter Berndalen duets with Adrian Jones's viola on a polska dance and there are some marvellous, dissonant surges of brass on 'Silverbright'. It's not easy listening, but it's worth the effort.

Jon Lusk
PERFORMANCE: 5 STARS
SOUND: 5 STARS
- BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE