Fejd – Nagelfar

Releasedate: 31-05-2013; Label: Napalm Records
By: Martine Goffard

From the misty woods of central Sweden, let me present you the new breathtaking album of the brothers Rimmerfors, “Nagelfar”. Even though the album is named after the ghost ship from the underworld, the music is not that gloomy.

If you wonder how Swedish primitive folk music sounds, listen to Fejd. The guys take the best of the Swedish musical culture and are to the Swedish forest mythology what Eluveitie is to the Celtic moorland. The enchanting opening of Ulvsgald reproduces the guttural singing used by the mischievous fairy of the lake, the “skogsrå”, to lure the men. The band uses traditional Swedish instruments like the Swedish bagpipe or the moraharpa but they also play more widespread instruments like the bouzouki, the Jew’s harp and the hurdy-gurdy. The guitars stay in the background, leaving the mystical atmosphere untouched. Patrik Rimmerfors sings entirely in Swedish with a devoted sincerity. The songs speak of the elements, witchcraft and legendary stories. The flute on the polka song Den Skimrande sounds like a call of the nature and could go along the sceneries we see at dawn in our Nordic glades. Vindarnas Famn is a majestic ballad, cold and bitter like the winds.

The Swedish bagpipe’s solo on Haxfard is mesmerizing! The music is dynamic and spreads a contagious warmth along with a touching melancholy. Unfortunately Nagelfar is an album that passes too quickly. It’s of an exceptional quality. Too few bands share such an authentic, magical universe. It’s not only a hail to their Swedish roots, it’s also a signal to protect the nature.

Line up:
Patrik Rimmerfors – Lead Vocals, Bouzouki, Swedish Bagpipe, Jew’s Harp, Hurdy-Gurdie, Cow Antler, Willow-pipe and recorder etc
Niklas Rimmerfors – Vocals and Moraharpa
Lennart Specht – Guitars and Keyboard
Thomas Antonsson – Bass
Esko Salow – Drums

Links:
Fejd Facebook