Dark Nordic Folk artist Kati Rán is set to release her album SÁLA on Friday the 24th of May via Svart Records and Carl has had the honour of reviewing the album ahead of its release.
Just as I expected, I was removed from this world and brought to another one. A darker one, but also a brighter one. Almost a connection to the wild. I felt like I was on some sort of a journey of self discovery. Her voice leading the way like an old shamanic tribal woman helping me find my inner self. Through the sea, into my soul.
This powerful album brings us on an epic journey through crashing waves, engulfed in a musical landscape that has been brought from the past amongst battlefields full of vikings and powerful woman seen through history and preserved in Norse mythology.
As the wild horns and beating battle drums opened up on the self title track SÁLA, I was immersed in a cloud of bones and painted faces and harmonising voices. Already I could tell that this album would be painting a story for me, but also painting a story of life.
Before I had even read about the meaning of SÁLA I had the feeling already of soul searching and an inner look at ones self. SÁLA being an old Norse word for ‘soul’ and ‘sea’, SÁLA is an act of ‘soul retrieval’. This album was perfectly named and does exactly that.
HEFRING starting off with that screech from a gull flying high above, we can hear the waves below, and if you close your eyes, you are that gull. Souring and searching. As the bow glides across the horse hairs of the (what I assume to be a) Talharpa, it almost directs us on our path. Hefring , from what I gathered, means “Lifting” and this track certainly does that by planting us straight away in the eye of the gull and gives us the feeling of a chaotic ocean below.
Have you ever jumped into the Irish Sea and the utter coldness of it all just completely wraps you and takes your breath away? Well that’s what KÓLGA | 16 does. It comes in like an iced bath and shatters your blood vessels.
KÓLGA meaning ‘cool wave’ and also being one of the nine daughters of Rán the Goddess of the sea. This song is full of feminine powers and lists off many female figures from Norse mythology.
A song dedicated to the most formidable forces within nature and the power of these woman from history and mythology. Accompanied by a magical video and created by the Romanian multi talented artist Costin Chioreanu, its a perfect combination.
As we move through the album we eventually get to the well known track “Blodbylgje”. First released back in 2018, fans had to wait a full 5 years before we get to experience this epic tail alongside the rest of its journey on the album SÁLA. Anticipation grows stronger each day but we finally get to experience this full tail on Friday 24th.
At 15 minutes long, this journey during one single track is like a lifetime lived within a soundscape of darkness, chants, ghostly voices and the cracking of wood on waves. It’s an incredible journey along side the 9 daughters of the goddess Rán and the jöttun Ægir. You can really feel this journey within Blodbylgje.
As our ship rides atop the dominating waves, we are surrounded be the bending and warping of the wood. Ships shatter, oars splinter, Sea swallows, serpent coils, Let us now raise the blood wave. But its not an anxious feeling. Towards the end we are overcome with a feeling of being embraced with the power of the sea, the power of the daughters, and we can move forward as one.
Hrönn arches, Hevring rises, Bylgja stretches, Blóðughadda bleeds, Dúfa thunders, Dröfn drowns, Kólga cold and clear, Himinglæva strikes.
The album continues as a powerful journey through the soul and Rán creates the most beautiful landscape for that searching. With a list of some of the most talented artists contributing to this album along with the in-depth research done by Kati Rán on old historical sources and mythological stories searching for texts on the Sea Goddess Rán in order to truly bring us deep into this mythological world that she has created.
The album is a beautiful dedication of the female voice and even more so to the feminine Skaldic perspective. With the first lyrics written for the album back in 2015, it has certainly taken its time but now moulded with the life experiences of Kati Ran through different states of mind over those years. Whether it be sadness, grief, heartache, or victory, the album is a record of preserved emotions felt during the creation of this beautiful piece of art.
13 tracks telling a story of life through the use of the Nordic Mythology.
Track-list:
1. Sála
2. Hefring
3. Kólga | 16
4. Blodbylgje
5. Dröfn | Drifting
6. Stone Pillars
7. Dúfa | Sleeping
8. Unnr | Mindbeach
9. Himinglæva
10. Hrönn
11. Bára | Bósi
12. Segið Mér
13. Sátta
SÁLA will be released on the 24th of May 2024 via Svat Records. https://svartrecords.com/en
Don’t hesitate to add this album to your collection.
Star Rating below
Connect with Kati Rán:
http://www.kati-ran.com
https://ranarvegr.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/ran.musician
http://www.instagram.com/kati_ran
http://www.tiktok.com/@kati_ran
http://www.youtube.com/@KatiRan
http://www.svartrecords.com
Reviewer – Carl Foran