Nordein, “Bergart”
Bergart is the fourth album from Nordein, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Jørn Øyhus (Nordjevel, Byrdi, Varde). I first encountered Nordein through Jørn’s affiliation with Byrdi, another neo-folk group whom I highly regard, and I was drawn in by the project’s mission statement:
“Rooted in the "Nordic sound" that predates the rise of Scandinavian Black Metal, Nordein draws on a tradition that is both melancholic and uplifting, reinterpreting it in ways that transcend clichés often associated with folk-inspired music.”
As I dove deeper into Nordein’s discography, I found that, while many bands can claim to transcend clichés of their own styles, Nordein very much succeeds on this mission throughout their albums, owing much to the compositional approach which incorporates many harmonic and modal elements from prog, and the audacious orchestration that shakes up the expected sound palette of the neofolk genre. This can only be accomplished by musicians who are actually aware enough of their own clichés to subvert them, but also aware enough of the tradition they draw from to know how to use that tradition in a new and innovative way. But I also want it to be made clear: the subverting of those clichés (I would rather call them stylistic tendencies) is not total, nor should it be.
Instead, what unfolds in Bergart is that playful, and sometimes even tense dance between clichés and progressive innovation. The album begins in exactly the way you would expect for this style: a dark and ominous atmosphere decorates the throat singing of Bergegarda, letting you know that yes, this is a dark folk record. But the way the album slowly introduces new and progressive ideas to that typical style is rather provocative. From Trollhjerte to Asgarvaren, a world of dark folk intermixed with the modal mixture typical of traditional Norwegian folk, with harmonic palettes and melodic gestures that might even seem jarring to those to who might not be familiar with the Norwegian folk tradition (except for the break in Trollhjerte, that’s just pure, uncut dungeon synth).
I also want to give a special shout out here to the guitar playing in Fanden Danse which I’ve always associated with Jørn’s style. You guys know I have a soft spot for well-played classical guitar, and I do truly believe that there is not nearly enough guitar like this in the genre. See Bear, The Storyteller or Ofdrykkja for more artists who utilize this style of guitar beautifully. And, if I’m going to be on the topic of instrumentation, it would be criminal of me to not mention the invaluable contributions of nyckelharpa player Mathias Gyllengahm who keeps the sound of Nordein solidly grounded in the Nordic soundscape.
The album really comes online for me with Sagaland, however, when the progressive and innovative elements come to the forefront, and stay there, through to the end of the record. Sagaland features another of my favorite aspects of Nordein’s music, and that is the use of vocal harmonies that are actually, well, harmonies. In dark folk, male singers are often scared to leave the lower range (“but how can I be mysterious and brooding if I sing in the tenor range?”), but unfortunately that means that most “harmonies” in the genre don’t fully explore the potential for three- or even four-part harmony. So, when Sagaland kicks into its B section around the four-minute mark and opens up into a driving and open soundscape, it does quite literally feel like that transcendence talked about at the top of the review. This uplifting and innovative energy sparked in Sagaland continues through to the end of the album, with Ask & Embla proving to be a really effective and memorable album closer.
The album, I feel, makes quite a strong rhetorical statement by being structured in the way that it is, leaving the listener to constantly compare the clichés of the genre with new ideas throughout the album’s runtime, until by the second half, you’re almost in an entirely new style than where we started. But on the creative side of things, the first half of the record shows us just how familiar Jørn is with these clichés. And, as I said at the outset, you have to know the rules before you can break them – a familiar cliché in itself for artists. The second half of the record, from Sagaland onwards, then shows the potential for the genre when it both isn’t scared to try something new and is willing to engage with the traditional material that inspires it in a meaningful and creative way.
Bergart is not only rhetorically rich in commentary about the neofolk genre but is also a captivating and immersive work of art in its own right. It’s this ability to make great music, while also provoking further thought about the music as you listen to it that always has me looking forward to whatever Nordein has in store next.
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