With ”Blåne for blåne” (eng. Blue Distance), their second album as a full band, Glittertind continues their journey in historical moods. Where their debut album in 2013, ”Djevelsvart” (eng. Devil Black), explored the religious loss of meaning after Darwin, and the transition to modernity during the 19th century, “Blåne for blåne” is inspired by 1945 when peace came 70 years ago. The war showed man from its most destructive and ruthless sides. But with these dark forces a strong counter-force emerged and values like freedom, social justice, tolerance and solidarity became more apparent for people than ever. These forces contributed to the rebuilding of Europe and gave birth to its welfare states. The ability the war-generation had to create new meaning after traumas and loss of meaning has inspired the work with “Blåne for blåne”.
This ability also resonated with personal processes in text-writer and front-figure Torbjørn Sandvik. Where the predecessor “Djevelsvart” was dominated by anxiety and darkness and an overwhelming fear of loosing the one you love because of sickness, “Blåne for blåne” revolves around dreams of creating a new and more vital life together – to find a path from storm and darkness to calm seas. The album has also songs that remind us that a loved generation and their culture are disappearing these days. The song “Enno nær” (Still Close) is dedicated to Torbjørn’s grandmother and to the fishermen’s wifes who earlier were the “glue” in the Norwegian coastal society. The song “Draumen” (The Dream) is describing a meeting between Torbjørn and Per Sivles poem “Vår-von”(Spring Hope, from the 19th century).
To support the lyrical moods the band has revitalized their musical expression from the dark and heavy predecessor, “Djevelsvart”. “Blåne for blåne” is given a lighter, acoustic expression and the anglo-american cultural influences after 1945 on Norway are represented in the compositions. The band plays around with different instruments and elements from Nordic folk-tunes, a classic-Romantic tradition and anglo-american indie-folkrock.
The History of Glittertind: 2004 – 2015
Glittertind started out as a one-man project where Torbjørn Sandvik released “Evige Asatro” (2004) and “Til Dovre Faller” (2005) on the Dutch label Karmageddon Media. The records were inspired by the big narratives in history and the music mixed elements from punk, heavy metal and folk. In 2008 Geirmund Simonsen became a part of the project. Simonsen had a background as a church-organist, producer and composer for theatre, film and TV which was very different from Sandviks background from mainly punk and metal bands. Together they thought this could result in something unique. In 2009 they released the album “Landkjenning” (2009) on Napalm Records (Universal Germany).
In 2010, Glittertind became a full band, and in 2013 the band released their debut, Djevelsvart, their first record on a Norwegian label (Indie Recordings). The album, “Djevelsvart”, was inspired by writers from the 19th century who wrote something about what it means to be a modern man. During the work with the album Torbjørn’s girlfriend got life-threatening cancer, and he got great comfort in feeling a sense of common despair with these writer from the 19th century. Also the collective loss of meaning and innocence in Norway after the July 22nd terror influenced the album. The song “Sprekk for sol” (Burst by Sun) was dedicated to one of the Utøya victims, Torjus Jakobsen Blattmann, and his engagement against hate ideologies. With their record the band hoped to communicate that we are not so alone in our suffering that we sometimes think we are.
“Djevelsvart” received great reviews by the Norwegian daily press. The Norwegian equivalent to BBC Radio 1, NRK P1, A-listed the single “Kvilelaus” and the band did their TV-debut on the Norwegian equivalent to BBC1, NRK1. Afterwards Glittertind topped the Norwegian iTunes album list several days. The record also received great reviews in British rock press. Kerrang! Gave 4/5 K!s and wrote that “Djevelsvart” was: “A real folk-rock rarity; stridently progressive, strikingly singular”.
In 2014 the band toured in Norway and showed their flexibility as a band by playing on events related to historic jubilees to metal festivals to community centres on the countryside. With “Blåne for blåne”, Glittertind are ready to show new musical colors that proves that this is not a band who cares about strictly defined genre-rules, as long as folk is the founding force.
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