Everything started with that while I was listening Einar Selvik – Völuspá, I came across with an amazing cover of it. Then as I continued to listen the band,Hindarfjäll,I found myself adding them on my successful Nordic bands list. I personally do not like talking about different bands’ similar sounds or genres but to be able to introduce this band in a better way, it can be said that their sound might be considered similar to Wardruna’s. However Hindarfjäll’s sound is a little bit more melodic than Wardruna’s.
I know many people are looking for these kinds of bands these days, so to introduce them more to the listeners, I had a chance to interview with, Hindarfjäll’s vocalist, Nils Edström. Here is a small hint; he said they might release an album soon!
Hi Nils! First of all can you tell me about what the starting point for Hindarfjäll is?
Elias and I started Hindarfjäll as a project a year ago. We were and are both really interested in the norse mythology and folk music, so we basically decided to try to make something related. We only did one song as some kind of try out which later became “Så som träden viskar hans Namn“. People really liked it so we decided to do more.
Wardruna is a huge inspiration to Hindarfjäll and they’re definitely one of the reasons why Elias and I started this project.You don’t only listen to the their music, you can feel it within you. It talks to you in a way unlike no other genre.We released our demo and we were quite pleased with the result.After a couple of weeks we noticed that people really liked it and we got very good response. That’s where it began! We started making more songs and we got more and more motivated. We had actually made something people liked and could listen to!
What is the song which you enjoyed a lot while recording it and how was the recording process?
Tricky question.I actually always enjoy writing music for Hindarfjäll. But if I have to chose I guess I would have to say “Hjulet Vänder“. The thing is; I write songs while I record them, and I actually got stuck right after the intro. I had no idea what to do and the funny thing is that it turned out surprisingly well. I would say Hjulet Vänder is the best song I’ve ever done with Hindarfjäll.
Nils, you have such a beautiful voice. I believe most of us heard about you guys after your Völuspá cover of Einar Selvik. I really like listening Völuspa from Einar, but I enjoy it as much as while I listen you. I am wondering what kind of reactions did you get from this cover. Was it something you expected?
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it. I got very surprised indeed. It wasn’t something I expected at all. I thought that I would get something around 1000 views because I hadn’t seen any covers of it yet, but now it has been viewed nearly 15.000 times in two months.I think that’s insane. I’ve received so many nice and kind comments and I’m very flattered.
After listening Völuspá cover, most of us started to listen you guys more and Från Tidernas Begynnelse song is my favorite so far with the usage of a lot of folk elements. What would you like to say about this song? What is the story behind it?
Från Tidernas Begynnelse (From Dawn Of Time) is basically about the creation (according to the old folk lore). I’m not really into all those stories but I think reading about what people believed in for thousand of years ago is very interesting.But yes, maybe when I have the time I’ll try to translate it as good as I can.
What are the reactions of the listeners so far? Which song do you think has been liked the most?
The reactions have been great and that’s what have kept us going. It’s really amazing. It’s very hard to tell which song has been liked the most actually, I have no idea. Hjulet Vänder is the most viewed song, that’s the only thing I know so far.
With this project, you guys created a lot of expectations for possible new future projects, and I am sure people want to hear these kinds of works more. What are the last words you want to add? Are there any planned future plans? Because I believe you guys might be another alternative now for the Wardruna fans as we unfortunately do not have as many bands as Wardurna. Number of those kinds of bands are very limited. We would like to hear more!
Hindarfjäll’s first live performance will take place this summer in Leicester, England. We will be playing on a festival called The Asgardian which is brought by Asatru UK.
What I want to add is that I think that racism is a very important subject because Asatru and the music we play attracts a lot of idiots unfortunately. Such as nazis and racists, I think that’s unacceptable. Hindarfjäll does NOT tolerate such things. We take a stand against hatred and racism. And concerning Hindarfjäll’s future I can say that we’re planning to release an album soon. I don’t know when but it will come! Other than tht we don’t have any plans, we’ll just see what the time takes us!
