Wardruna - Helvegen

Helvegen - the road to hell. This song has a certain weight to it, and for good reason. It’s about dying, and wondering who will be there to sing to you as you pass into the afterlife. It’s a profound feeling, one everyone can relate to, no matter what you believe happens to you after you die. And you feel it throughout the song, a lamenting and melancholic push that comes from deep within. 

The version I’m including of Helvegen here is a live version with vocals from Norwegian artist Aurora. Her vocals added together with Einar Selvik of Wardruna really are quite haunting. It also ends with a poem, one that adds a hopeful message to close out the song - that even once you die, you will still remain as long as there are those to remember you by. 

If you are a fan of Nordic folk, you are probably very familiar with Wardruna. But if you aren’t, they are an amazing group to dive into as an introduction. Their music is very accessible, and even without understanding the lyrics, they do an amazing job of storytelling through their music so you can still feel exactly what they are expressing. 

You may also already be familiar with the lead singer, Einar Selvik, if you’ve seen the show Vikings. They composed a lot of the music for the show, and Einar even appeared on it as an actor. He also contributed significantly to the soundtrack for the game Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla!