DRAUGURINN - Minningar úr undirheimum ( lim. A5 Digipack CD)

DRAUGURINN - Minningar úr undirheimum ( lim. A5 Digipack CD)

A5 Digipak CD including 12 page booklet. Limited to 250 pcs.

“Minningar úr undirheimum” (‘Memories from the Underworld’) is a harrowing musical journey carrying the listener through the fringes of dark ambient and ritualistic drone. The sixth album of Swedish-Icelandic artist and musician Draugurinn offers bewitchment and beauty in equal parts. Its three epic tracks undergo gradual build-ups working towards a ceremonial climax; intricate and layered, sophisticated minimalism saturated with both compositional and conceptual depth. Electronic darkness merges with analogue instruments and percussion, occasionally illuminated by spectral chants bringing to mind a Stone Age shaman channelling Dead Can Dance.

“Minningar úr undirheimum” will be available as of May 13, 2022. As is the norm with a Draugurinn release, this is more than just an album – it is a holistic package meant to be experienced in unison. The full-colour A5 digipak booklet features an ambitious art collection courtesy of Draugurinn herself: stunning paintings influenced and informed by findings from Neolithic and Mesolithic burial sites across Scandinavia.

When Draugurinn composed “Minningar úr undirheimum”, the original intention was to enact it as a live ritual on the vernal equinox of 2020 – at a combined art and music event commemorating the release of “Budet” by fellow Nordvis act Grift. However, due to restrictions in the wake of COVID-19, the gathering was cancelled. What is notable here is how all of Draugurinn’s public performances – of which there have been six since she started out in 2008 – are one of a kind. The music and accompanying aesthetics are specifically tailored for each event and then never reused. So, while the equinox celebration never materialised, the ritual lives on through “Minningar úr undirheimum”.