"Freya" is a song by American heavy metal band The Sword. Written by the band and produced by vocalist and guitarist John D. Cronise, it is featured on the band's 2006 debut studio album '' Age of Winters''. In addition to being released as the only single from the album on September 4, 2007, "Freya" was featured as a playable track on the video game ''

Guitar Hero II ''Guitar Hero II'' is a 2006 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 and Activision for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to ''Guitar Hero (video game), Guitar Hero'' (2005) and the second installment in t ...

'', released in November 2006. Due in part to its inclusion on ''Guitar Hero II'', as well as its release as the lead single from ''Age of Winters'', "Freya" is often cited as The Sword's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

. It has been performed at almost every one of the band's shows, and was praised by critics upon its release. The song was later included on the 2009 ''Guitar Hero'' expansion '' Smash Hits'', and also on the band's ''iTunes Festival: London 2010'' EP.

Origins and recording

"Freya" was originally recorded for The Sword's third demo, released in 2005 and often referred to as "The ''Freya'' EP". The song's lyrics are said to be based on the themes of fantasy and

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

, as well as those within

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. The song is likely about the Norse goddess

Freyja In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a char ...

, whose "dwelling",

Fólkvangr In Norse mythology, Fólkvangr (Old Norse "field of the host"Orchard (1997:45). or "people-field" or "army-field"Lindow (2001:118).) is a meadow or Field (agriculture), field ruled over by the goddess Freyja where half of those that die in comba ...

, is also referenced by the name of the band's studio at which the track was recorded, Folkvang. The Sword guitarist Kyle Shutt has revealed that the band took inspiration from

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

for much of the material on '' Age of Winters'', including "Freya". Speaking about the popularity of the song in a 2012 interview, he claimed that the band had performed it at "every single show" to date, explaining that they would "mix it up every once in a while ndthrow in some different parts" when playing it live. According to set list aggregation website setlist.fm, "Freya" is the most frequently performed song by The Sword.

Release and reception

Following its release on The Sword's debut album '' Age of Winters'' in February 2006, a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "Freya" was featured as a playable track in stage 5, "Return of the Shred", of the video game ''

'', released in November 2006. The version of the song included on the game was recorded by WaveGroup Sound and features an extra part at the end which was not present on The Sword's recording. The master recording was later included on the 2009 expansion '' Guitar Hero Smash Hits'', as one of 19 tracks from ''Guitar Hero II''. Speaking about the band's inclusion on the ''Guitar Hero'' games (including later releases '' Guitar Hero: Metallica'' and '' Guitar Hero 5''), Kemado Records marketing director and label manager Jeffrey Kaye simply revealed that the team at

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

were fans of heavy metal and The Sword in particular, adding that "There was very little pitching necessary for them". "Freya" was later issued as the sole single from ''Age of Winters'' on September 4, 2007. Released to coincide with the band's UK tour with

Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...

, the 7" vinyl single was limited to 1,000 copies and backed with a live version of fellow album track "Iron Swan" recorded at the CBGB venue in New York City shortly before its closing. The song was later featured as the opening track on the band's ''iTunes Festival: London 2010''

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, recorded on July 3, 2010 and released later that month. Reviewing ''Age of Winters'' for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Eduardo Rivadavia selected "Freya" as the main highlight of the album. On the contrary,

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

writer Adrien Begrand claimed that "Freya" and following track "Winter's Wolves" "come close to sounding pedestrian", criticising the songs' "charmingly lunkheaded riffs" and Cronise's vocal delivery.

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 ...

featured "Freya" in their feature "Guitar Hero: the unlikely fan favourites", detailing the "top 10 unfashionable tracks which have become classics for a new generation".

Music video

The music video for "Freya", the second from ''Age of Winters'' after "Winter's Wolves", was directed by Barnaby Roper and filmed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It tells the story of a protagonist of the song's name who "appears on a battlefield after a battle and wanders through the corpses looking for warriors to take back to Folkvang".

Track listing

Personnel

References

{{authority control 2006 songs 2007 singles The Sword songs Freyja Norse mythology in music