Sonne Hagal
Jordansfrost

The Sonne Hagal return. They come back quietly, the Sonne Hagal, without fuss, grand proclamations, or major upheavals. They return with a beautiful album: "Jordansfrost". Released at the end of 2008, ":Jordansfrost:" is the second full-length, the successor to "Helfahrt" that made us dream, revealing a band that played with heart, that spoke, albeit softly, to be heard, because the music of Sonne Hagal is a chest of small emotions, to be opened and savored in blissful solitude.

And if in today's world one successful album is acceptable, two are enough to call it a miracle: a continuity, to be honest, that we would have expected anyway, because "Helfahrt" was the inspired album, that did not surprise but moved us, an album that spoke with its heart, albeit softly. And to the heart, with the heart, the entity Sonne Hagal continues to speak, softly, but with a whisper that trembles the soul, warms the limbs, and soothes the mind.

Without formulas, except for their own, the Sonne Hagal return, a German quartet devoted to the simplest folk in the world, yet visceral as only the most intimate singer-songwriters can be, profound as only folklore that reconnects with the ancestral traditions of humanity can be.

Only at times does the folk of Sonne Hagal take on an apocalyptic hue, a bit Fire + Ice, a bit Death in June, yet overall so typically Sonne Hagal, even though the Sonne Hagal sound doesn’t exist, cannot create followers, and it's unclear what makes it distinct, although it certainly stands out from the apocalyptic chaos of the third millennium.

Already the opening, the intense "Flackerndes Feuer", immerses us in the Sonne Hagal sound, as if it were a classic, when in reality we had only heard these things in the previous album and other small (but great) releases. I will therefore say little if I tell you about a airborne guitar and a velvety voice, an enveloping accordion and solemn choirs: and yet these are Sonne Hagal.

What follows is the other side of Sonne Hagal, the more grim and combative one: "Midsummernight" is the track (not the only one) that allows us to append the adjective "apocalyptic" to the term "folk," directly recalling the art of the founding fathers, those Death in June that in ":Jordansfrost:" are invoked multiple times, more often than in the past (noteworthy in this sense is the monumental "Hidden Flame", featuring a trumpet and a drum machine that take us directly back to "Nada!" and "The World that Summer").

":Jordansfrost:" is not as distinct as "Helfahrt", losing certain sharp edges, certain flashes, certain ideas that had turned the first stunning work into a colorful watercolor. Yet the impression one gets from listening to ":Jordansfrost:" is not of inferiority: the two albums are fiercely equal. And if ":Jordansfrost:" on one hand loses in variety, on the other it gains in fluidity. The victory belongs to the identity of Sonne Hagal, which survives without becoming harsh or relaxing. The twelve tracks that compose it flow into each other without jolts, without amazement, softly, powered by imperceptible variations understood by the heart more than the mind. A touch of psychedelia remains, which persists in some ambient intros and in electronic effects that are more fluid than in the past.

Twelve cleansed ballads, purged of the noise-ridden tears of an industrial past that still lingered in the formidable predecessor; twelve ballads that, however, are not mere folk either, but a single sound flow of intense and alienating poetic flair: delicate arpeggios, intelligently used keyboards, violins gently surfacing, rounded and well-blended sounds, perfect for music that intends to coexist acoustic instrumentation and electronic contamination, native language and English idiom. ":Jordansfrost:" is a sinusoidal trail that slowly dives into melancholy, then gradually rises to the dimension of dreams, spikes in defiant epicity, only to finally settle into the purity of nature and a fairy-tale world populated by fairies and dark presences, where the morning's damp leaf odors blend with the warmth of a fire dancing at sunset.

As in the past, voices alternate, at times fragile whispers, at times fearless declarations of war: ":Jordansfrost:" remains a choral work, perhaps more choral than "Helfahrt", also because the number of guests is larger. Among the more notable ones are the friend Kim Larsen (Of the Wand and the Moon) who contributes to "Ragnarök" (incidentally the most Death in June piece!); Michael Lard (Unto Ashes), who lends a hand in "Who has seen the Wind?" (incidentally the most traditional piece!); Markus Wolff (Waldteufel), who participates in "Totentanzlied" (incidentally the most damn epic piece!). Three tracks placed in line show the class and substance of Sonne Hagal.   

Then we find the flute of B'eirth (In Gowan Ring), the sly duets of Will I & Rose (Ernte), and the ethereal ones of Joschua and Kathryn (Lux Interna); the trumpet of 44 Martynn, the accordions of Henryk Vogel (Darkwood) and Tyrsson (Waldteufel and Northman), the piano of Andreas Arndt (Sonnentau), and others: it is a large family that plays in ":Jordansfrost:", an album that shines for its details, nuances, and understated participations, as if those playing in it do not wish to overshadow others but participate in a unique and intimate common experience.

Let me conclude poetically and reiterate that it would truly be utter nonsense to pretend nothing happened a second time: to err is human, to persist is from assholes!