Sowulo - Mann
Country:🇳🇱
Genre: Pagan/Viking Folk
Release Date: 1st August 2019
Record Label(s): Independent
Band Members
Faber Horbach - Vocals, Throat singing, Lyre, Nyckelharpa, Irish bouzouki, Jouhikko, Synths & VST
Chloe Bakker - Celtic triplett harp
Sophie Zaaijer - Violin
Pan Bartkowiak - Woodblock & shakers
Klaartje van Zwoll - Viola
Fieke van den Hurk - Shakers
Production Personel
Faber Horbach - Recording
Fieke van den Hurk - Engineering
Nico van Montfor - Mastering
Faber Horbach - Album concept and research
Faber Horbach & Samiye van Rossum - Artwork development
Samiye van Rossum - Illustrations
Jasper van Gheluwe - Graphic design
Sowulo - Brego in Breoste
Review
Rating (out of 5🤘): 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Favourite Track(s): Brego In Breoste, Wulfwiga, Faegu Fara, Heahlufu, Wohs Wildum, Berabeorn
Envisage a dark and intriguing world shrouded in mystery, steeped in ritual and sacrifice. The concepts that awaken from their deep slumber in my imagination when listening to this beautifully crafted album by Sowulo take me back in history where I can relive my ancient past. Mann is an intricate and haunting take on pagan/viking inspired folk that is sure to fire the imagination whilst stirring your inner spirits to reconnect you with your ancestry. 2019 has been a good year for this type of music, with the success of Heilung's Futha accompanied by a growing interest in ancient European history fuelling this rise to prominence. Sowulo for me combine the best of Wardruna and Heilung with their own twist to make truly magical music.
Musically, it follows a very similar mould to that of Heilung and Wardruna but the difference is the use of the string instruments as a more central melodic device. Whilst Einar of Wardruna does stripped back Skaldic versions of Wardruna songs, Sowulo use the stringed instruments more than the pounding war drums which offers a different take on this genre. Either way, this album delivers on its interpretation of pagan/viking folk music, the perfect follow on from 2016's full length effort SOL, which features on of my favourite Sowulo songs Guinnungagap. From my perspective Mann moves away slightly from the mythological themes in SOL, and focuses instead on the perspectives of normal people from that time, as it feels like there is a much more human and ritualistic element to this album. This thought comes from the more rhythmic elements that I can hear throughout the album, they are much more shamanic sounding, similar to the ones found on Heilung's Futha album. The album is very spiritually intense in some areas and spiritually calming in others, I think that Mann has the perfect combination of both epic atmosphere and musical ancient healing, which is crucial to get right in this genre if you want the music to have the desired effect on the audience that you are aiming for. The vocals are very soothing on this album, they guide you through the songs and the environment they are set in, I love how natural they sound in this old germanic language (no surprise there considering how much I praise Wardruna and Heilung). Overall, Mann is a very well crafted album that experts you to an ancient world spiritually whilst it takes you through the trials and tribulations of our ancestors through the magic of storytelling.
The production is very atmosphere focused, which I would expect on an album like this, so it means multiple layers and plenty of reverb. Whilst mixing more traditional instruments that you can't plug into an amp and play each instrument cuts through and defines the space that it's in. I love the way the drums are mixed especially, the way they sound is magical and you can hear each distinct timbral element of each drum which makes them stand out more than the melodic instruments in my opinion. I'm drawing special focus on the vocals for this as well, every song is filled with the full range of the singers vocals as they come at you from all around. It makes you feel as if you were in a mead hall or forest witnessing the rituals play out as the vocals just engulf the space in the best way possible. The vocals also sound like they have had a couple of reverb layered vocals underneath them to give them this perceived effect of a gigantic space. It is always hard to fully comment on the mixes of albums like this but my general rule is if they sound natural and put you in the space that you have imagined you'd hear it the mix is bang on, which is more than true in Mann's case.
This is another stirling effort inspired by our ancestors, ancient pagan and viking alike. This genre is becoming increasingly popular as we aim to full reconnect with our history and heritage. Mann is a very spiritual and uplifting album and I believe it puts Sowulo up there with Heilung and the might Wardruna in this genre. Check out Mann now!
Sowulo - MannMusically, it follows a very similar mould to that of Heilung and Wardruna but the difference is the use of the string instruments as a more central melodic device. Whilst Einar of Wardruna does stripped back Skaldic versions of Wardruna songs, Sowulo use the stringed instruments more than the pounding war drums which offers a different take on this genre. Either way, this album delivers on its interpretation of pagan/viking folk music, the perfect follow on from 2016's full length effort SOL, which features on of my favourite Sowulo songs Guinnungagap. From my perspective Mann moves away slightly from the mythological themes in SOL, and focuses instead on the perspectives of normal people from that time, as it feels like there is a much more human and ritualistic element to this album. This thought comes from the more rhythmic elements that I can hear throughout the album, they are much more shamanic sounding, similar to the ones found on Heilung's Futha album. The album is very spiritually intense in some areas and spiritually calming in others, I think that Mann has the perfect combination of both epic atmosphere and musical ancient healing, which is crucial to get right in this genre if you want the music to have the desired effect on the audience that you are aiming for. The vocals are very soothing on this album, they guide you through the songs and the environment they are set in, I love how natural they sound in this old germanic language (no surprise there considering how much I praise Wardruna and Heilung). Overall, Mann is a very well crafted album that experts you to an ancient world spiritually whilst it takes you through the trials and tribulations of our ancestors through the magic of storytelling.
The production is very atmosphere focused, which I would expect on an album like this, so it means multiple layers and plenty of reverb. Whilst mixing more traditional instruments that you can't plug into an amp and play each instrument cuts through and defines the space that it's in. I love the way the drums are mixed especially, the way they sound is magical and you can hear each distinct timbral element of each drum which makes them stand out more than the melodic instruments in my opinion. I'm drawing special focus on the vocals for this as well, every song is filled with the full range of the singers vocals as they come at you from all around. It makes you feel as if you were in a mead hall or forest witnessing the rituals play out as the vocals just engulf the space in the best way possible. The vocals also sound like they have had a couple of reverb layered vocals underneath them to give them this perceived effect of a gigantic space. It is always hard to fully comment on the mixes of albums like this but my general rule is if they sound natural and put you in the space that you have imagined you'd hear it the mix is bang on, which is more than true in Mann's case.
This is another stirling effort inspired by our ancestors, ancient pagan and viking alike. This genre is becoming increasingly popular as we aim to full reconnect with our history and heritage. Mann is a very spiritual and uplifting album and I believe it puts Sowulo up there with Heilung and the might Wardruna in this genre. Check out Mann now!
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