''Sóknardalr'' is the debut studio album by

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw ( lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an em ...

band

Windir Windir ("Warrior" in English language, English) was a black metal band from Sogndal, Norway. The band was formed in 1994 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Terje "Valfar" Bakken, and released its debut album ''Sóknardalr'' in 1997. Windir c ...

. It was released in April 1997 through the

Head Not Found Head Not Found is a Norwegian record label, a sublabel of Voices Music & Entertainment, specializing in various heavy metal subgenres. They describe the genres as Black, Death, Doom, Thrash, Gothic, Viking Metal and Ambient. Their parent label is ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

Background

Sóknardalr is the old Norse name of

Valfar Terje "Valfar" Bakken (3 September 1978 – 14 January 2004) was the lead singer and founder of the Norwegian black metal band Windir. Windir was started as a one-man project, but it was expanded into a full band with the release of their third a ...

's hometown

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages ...

. The lyrics are written in the Sogndal dialect, and the song titles in

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano- ...

, the official written form of Sogndal municipality.

Musical style

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

described the album as " usinglayers upon layers of keyboards and guitars on an almost unprecedented scale (mid-period Bathory being the one obvious inspirational touchstone), culminating in sweeping, mini-symphonies", featuring "synthesizer melodies

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

would become signature Windir hallmarks."

Critical reception

wrote, "In an almost singular case study within the annals of Scandinavian black metal, where groups require several years and albums in which to experiment, develop and mature their sound, ''Sóknardalr'' saw Windir springing fully formed like Athena from the head of Zeus".

Track listing

Personnel

- vocals, all instruments, producer, mixing, photography

Additional personnel

*Steingrim - drums *Steinarson - clean vocals *Krohg - mixing, logo, artwork *J. E. Bjork - mastering, graphic design

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soknardalr Windir albums 1997 albums