Week 85 – NIDHOEGGR

My HeadBangers welcome from Bern, Switzerland, the Pagan Death Metal Band:

NIDHOEGGR

“Winters Wight”

Ok HeadBangers, I just got goosebumps listening to this holy shit.

“The Breeze”

This from the band:

This was made as part of a challenge initiated by the Metal Festival “Summer Breeze”. Bands were asked to create an original song to be put as music for the promotional video clips of the Festival. Needless to say we were up for it!

Let’s look at some bio on these guys, taken from their site:

Nidhoeggr was founded in the summer of 2009 and has since become an integral part of the Swiss folk metal scene. Since then, the six Bernese have been touring across Switzerland, playing as an opener for well-known bands such as ALESTORM and BLACK MESSIAH. In the fall of 2014, the popular folk metal band ENSIFERUM launched a competition for musicians. With the song “Swordbearer” Nidhoeggr managed to get the first place and won many new fans around the world. The debut album “Nach der Schlacht” was released in 2015 and was received very well by critics.

Nidhoeggr manages to combine harsh Death Metal with catchy keyboard melodies, always experimenting with different sounds. Through their multifaceted sound, the band creates a gloomy atmosphere, but can also whip up the mood with trollish party songs. For Nidhoeggr, this variety is an important part of their lyrical work as well. From song lyrics that immerse the listeners in the time of the Vikings, to socio-critical compositions, anything can be expected. With this unique way of making music, Nidhoeggr succeeds perfectly in blending the past and the modern.

“Desolation”

I really love this band, there’s just something about Death Metal and then throw in some pagan and there it is my HeadBangers, gotta love it.

Let’s meet the band of 6:

Left to right:

Janick – Rhythm Guitar

Janos – Lead Vocals

Lorenz – Clean Vocals & Keyboard

Left to right:

Thibault – Bass

Patrick – Drums

Nino – Clean Vocals & Lead Guitar

“Darkness Shall Live”

“My Thoughts”

Well my HeadBangers right off the top I’d like to mention Bern, Switzerland has many great bands, Abbath is also from there, check the blog they are on here too.  As all my HeadBangers know Melodic Death Metal is my thing, but add in some Pagan to it, well hell it works for me.  

I’ve dug around and found this on the meaning of Nidhoeggr, it is spelled this way and another way, but both mean the same.

Norse Myth Dragons represent the powerful forces of destruction and a great force of evil. Below we will introduce you three dragons that appeared in Norse mythology: Jormungandr, Nidhogg, and Fafnir.  

In Norse mythology, Níðhöggr (Malice Striker, traditionally also spelled Níðhǫggr, often anglicized Nidhogg) is a dragon/serpent who gnaws at a root of the world tree, Yggdrasil, he was eighty feet in length.  In historical Viking society, níð was a term for a social stigma implying the loss of honor and the status of a villain.

Who killed Nidhoggr:

In the end, the only ones left are two humans and a few gods including Odin’s brother Hoenir, Odin’s sons Vidar and Vali, Thor’s sons Modi and Magni. In one version of the story of Ragnarok Nidhogg is killed by Thor’s son Magni.

There is nothing better to me than a band with history and a great name taken from history or mythology.  So you know thought went into the name of this band. And I get the, Lord of the Rings, vibe with these guys on certain songs.  I love the growl vocals, they are deep and dark, I appreciate any singer that can master this as Janos has.  I have read so much on growl vocals and they date back to 850 BC, yeah that’s right, it’s not anything new, but you may see more about them here.  Listen to them, you have to be extremely good to be able to control your voice with tearing your throat out.   The sound of this band is one I can listen to for hours.

Nidhoeggr has one of the best websites I’ve seen.  Check it out for more on their music and gear.

http://www.nidhoeggr.ch

Well my HeadBangers that’s it for this week.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  Until then don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..