Artist: Kalandra
Title: Kingdom Two Crowns: Norse Lands Soundtrack (Extended)
Genre: Norse / Norse Folk / Folk / Alternative Pop
Release Date: 8th April 2022 (CD) & 24th June 2022 (Vinyl)
Label: By Norse Music
Album Review
KALANDRA is a Norwegian / Swedish Alternative Pop band that has been in existence since around 2012. They only popped up on my radar because vocalist Katrine Stenbekk is on tour with WARDRUNA currently. In the time they have been together they’ve only released one other album and that was ‘The Line’ in 2020 on By Norse Music. That’s 11 songs over 50 minutes that are mostly breezy and breathy in tone with a delicately misty / mystical aura enveloping the whole package. It reminds me of GARMARNA or VALRAVN.
This album was originally created as a soundtrack to a video game called ‘Kingdom Two Crowns’. But this has been extended to give the listener a more immersive and holistic experience. Within the game there’s a land called Norse lands and players can defend it, build within it, conquer the world and unlock the powers of the gods. With this extension of the soundtrack, the band collaborated with local Norwegian Folk Musicians like John Stenersen and Kenneth Lien, adding Hurdy Gurdy, Nyckelharpa, and Moraharpa to the sound mix. Kalandra says: “We have long been interested in taking on a project like this and we were intrigued by the opportunity to broaden our musical horizons. It was incredibly fun to be part of this project and we accepted all challenges, which came with trying to bring our own sound to a game series with an already large following and myth. We hope listeners new and old enjoy our contribution as much as we enjoyed creating it.”
Do you like CLANNAD, ENYA, and new age trippy hippy music that puts you in a relaxed rubbery state of mind where you feel like you are lying on an expanse of silky marshmallow whilst being tickled with feathers expertly handled by fair maidens from the fairy realms? Do you like music that fills your mind’s eye with expansive landscapes, unspoiled forests, and rivers devoid of pollution? What about being transported to a time where heroism was the aspiration and glory the norm? Well then dear reader, you’ll like this! There are no lyrics, the music does the talking and your imagination does the painting. This isn’t Cardi B, which to me is like an explosion in a paint factory, this is easy listening goodness. There are pipes and bourdons and harps and flutes and keyboards along with the aforementioned Moraharpa / Nyckelharpa, all glued together into over 30 minutes of ear candy that perfectly soundtracks whatever it is you are doing without supercharging those emotions that tire out the soul.
I’d also say that this is not only Viking in tone. It could also be slipped into the western European Iron Age context be it Celtic, Pict, Irish, or Scots. Most of the tracks hover around the three-minute mark apart from two. They are ‘Fernden’ which is a smooth dance of strings and horns and drones that pulls you from start to finish without ripping your arms from their sockets. and the other one is ‘Helheim’ with its four-note drone, chugging drums, and ethereal coaxing vocals which sound like Turkish Sirens. ‘Nordlys’ is the shortest track. It opens with the “harumph” of a horn and a drone accompanies it through to a conclusion in a smooth gesture as if to say “ONWARDS!!!”. ‘Greed’ has a more furrowed brow tone to it with a shoulder’s back stance. The drums are, how can I say, regularly impatient with an accent not where you’d expect. No, no, correction. Not impatient, irritated!
There’s nothing else to say about this really other than the fact that track 4 is missing from the review material and that early in their career they were based in Liverpool according to www.globalmusicfishpond.com. Apart from that, it’s easy on the ear and it accompanies whatever it is you are doing without incident! Oh, just in case you were wondering, KALANDRA means “Lovely one” in Greek.
Tracklist
01. Eikthyrnir
02. Ferden
03. Drommefanger
04. Skogtroll
05. Morke Skoger
06. Synnavind
07. Helheim
08. Nordlys (Northern Lights)
09. Greed
10. Hrimfaxi
11. Valkyrja
Line-up
Katrine Stenbekk – Vocals
Florian Doderlein Winter – Guitar
Jogeir Maeland – Guitar
Oskar Johnsen Rydh – Drums
Guest Musicians – John Stenersen and Kenneth Lien - Hurdy Gurdy, Nyckelharpa, Moraharpa
Website
https://kalandra.bandcamp.com/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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