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Hagalaz' Runedance @ Reviews


Frigga's Web @ Walls of Fire
Andrea "Nebel" Haugen, the lady behind Hagalaz' Runedance, has presented us hereby with enigmatic, spell-casting and original music recreating ancient northern Folk and shamanic tunes - it's simply worth having! Compared to her previous works, the only big change is a drastic improvement in her singing - not that the vocals on the first albums were poor, but here the deep enchanting voice sounds much more polished and impressive. The arrangements are another good point, as they are more refined and powerful than before. The mystical quality of the music has also risen and the atmosphere has darkened, in a way, which is all together getting near to the point where any improvement would be unthinkable!
For the concept, I can only redirect you to Andrea's own book, The Ancient Fires of Midgard (out on Wolffackel Verlag/Second Sight Books for Germany), giving profound explanations of her views and ideas, connected mainly with Paganism, Northern Mythology and Ásatrú...
As always, since 1996, the production and engineering are Thorbjørn Akkerhaugen's work and a great work one must say.
One little surprise is Labyrinth, a song in german and one track on Frigga's Web that might sound already familiar is The Home I Will Never See - this really is a remake of the same song from Hagalaz' Runedance's debut, The Winds that Sang of Midgard's Fate (1998). Comparing these two versions, one can very easily see how much Andrea's music has developed over the years. The only thing left to say now is: go get Frigga's Web - it's pure magic!

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