Blóðtrú
Sunwolf

Bring Light to the Lives

of our Sisters and Brothers

Bring Fire to the Lik of our Enemies

The turning of the Great Wheel

has begun

Blóð + Trú, ancient Norse, which in English sounds like Blood + Faith. The few bios on this enigmatic Danish musical project say more or less: “…the beliefs that flow in our blood, something that not even over 1,500 years of oppression and brainwashing have been able to destroy. The European soul is still inside us, listen to its whispers… […] Ideologically, Blóðtrú speaks to our hearts of a national mind that once existed in the Germanic tribes, and can still be revived. Musically, it pays homage to the second wave Black Metal of the early '90s.”

Blóðtrú is a one-man band, whose sole member, Trúa, wants to guide us toward that European pagan awakening that others have already opened the way to a little further north, from the good old Quorthon (peace to his glorious immortal spirit) to the infamous Vikernes, to the masters Ulver, up to the hordes of various groups and side-projects, with peaks of excellence like the unforgettable Storm and Isengard, to mention that second wave above. Folklore, tradition, ancestral legacy, nostalgia for a paganism that ideologically contrasts with the Christian tradition, just as it was for the occult and the satanic matrix used as a banner by many Black and Death Metal bands from the late '80s to the present. Rebellion or catharsis, these genres have not only remained alive and well, but have also explored shores and arrivals (with some inevitable drift) that keep the flame alive every passing year, and each year this blessed/cursed “black flame” burns ever more vigorously. So yes, this kind of approach is certainly nothing new, many bands have been experimenting with these sounds for years, slow, heavy, cadenced rhythms, a sharp and evil voice that blends with the cleaner, chanting one of a typically evocative style and then the ancient Germanic paganism, overused now, you might say, so far everything suggests yet another album, in short… Here, however, I think it’s worth spending a few words (since no one will ever do it) on this project, and I absolutely want to take advantage of this free space to do so.

Trying to delve into this elegant work, I will attempt to say why, in my opinion, it differs from many other similar releases. First of all, the sounds are developed not by trying to photocopy old ideas but by attempting personal and intimate paths, after the introduction, the first chapter – Sunwolf I – immediately invests us with a sound carpet that envelops us in the atmosphere of the work, the piece is hypnotic but never banal, the concept of the album is what binds us humans to the ancient deity of light. The chariot, or solar wheel, is the center of the universe and has always been one of the highest authorities to which we, living creatures, turn our frightened gaze, which is why light is present in this work, even though often the voice that bursts and takes over the scene is typically Black Metal, the sensation is not the claustrophobic and pitch-black one of the first Darkthrone for example, one does not feel lost and oppressed, the idea that starts from the cover of Sunwolf is there to search for us, to indicate that path that seems lost, Sunwolf II indeed is pulled and centered on fast times, the fierce and croaking timbre is supported by a triumphant progression that steadily rises, making it impossible to feel in darkness, on the contrary, it seems that the chariot of the Sun is passing above us, gradually bringing that lux in tenebris that from Apollo to Belus, Baldr, and then Christ, has been and is part of our long and tormented spiritual history and that is present in all cultures and religions of the planet. The third chapter has a clear voice, slowly reciting its message of rebirth and "awakening" and has an almost apocalyptic background that then becomes similar to the thread of the first track and Trúa's voice returns to draw out its claws, ready to dig deep wounds. It is surprising how, even when the air becomes gloomy and heavy, everything never turns dark and depressive, although in many parts there are all the credentials to sink into the marshy darkness of a specific line surely known and dear to our Danish musician.

This interesting proposal wants to close with a chapter dedicated, indeed, to the "god of light", the already mentioned Baldr, and it does so with a track that I adore and have now completely absorbed as I have worn it out, we are in the ambient, all the previous discourse gives way only to this melancholic sound poetry dedicated to the unfortunate Germanic god son of Odin, which shines with its own light and dwells in its abode named Breiðablik, which means "ancient splendor." Certainly, the myth of Baldr (already dealt with by a certain gentleman behind the bars of the native Norwegian prisons) is always fascinating, as are the solar myths with their symbols and attached rituals, among many musicians who have tried to sing its movements, this Sunwolf, in my humble opinion, is worth listening to and hits the goal of being able to illuminate a genre like Black Metal, which is born in darkness for darkness but can also contain, precisely because of its nocturnal and solitary nature, that motto which for the Greeks was attributed to the divine goddess Hecate: EN EREBOS, PHOS.