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This weekend was the premiere of the album "A Piece for Mind and Mirror" by Skuggsjá, a music project by Ivar Bjørnson from Enslaved & Einar Selvik from Wardruna. As my readers will know, I am personally a big fan of Wardruna, and I was looking forward to this collaboration with great enthusiasm. I am lucky enough to live in Bergen, the capital of black metal of the world. It is the home town of many amazing artists, the type of people who will perform for huge audiences worldwide, and then come back to the rainy city to play for free in a small pub and record shop, and go out with people like me to drink and chat afterwards. Originally initiated as a commissioned piece for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution, the theme concerns Norwegian history and tells parts of the old days that have formed us as a nation and people. Having developed into a full album of 10 tracks + 2 bonus tracks (some lasting for a good 10 minutes), it sheds light on aspects of our history that are unknown and forgotten by many. One example is the history of "fat Olav" (...or St. Olav as he is called today) who cut grain supplies to the North of Norway and practiced a merciless confiscation politic that made himself immensely rich, and even turned his own family against him. The Christianization of Norway and ban of all other religions made him the uppermost leader of the Norwegian church, and he is celebrated as a holy man today. Skuggsjá tells the story of chieftain Tore Hund (Tore "the hound") and the peasants' uprising against Olav, from a historical and educative perspective. And it is all done beautifully, to the sound of historical instruments such as the kraviklyre, which is the oldest string instrument that has been found in Norway, mixed with the electronic in a symbiosis of ancient and modern. Last night they played two of their new tracks for us, and as Einar said when he held up his lyre, the original is dated to the 13th century and we are waiting for a C14 analysis that may reveal if it is even older (after which Ivar held up his el-guitar to mention that his was from 2004). :) After their performance we went out to celebrate the launch on their new ale, Alu by Norse, a handcrafted Norwegian farmhouse ale based on old Norwegian brewing traditions. It was a great night! 
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