Garmarna is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band. Their songs are mainly old

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

Biography

Garmarna was founded in 1990. Stefan Brisland-Ferner, Gotte Ringqvist and Rickard Westman were inspired by old Swedish music, which they had heard in a theatre. They began searching for old tunes and instruments. After two years of playing together, Jens Höglin joined the band on drums. In 1992 the band recorded their first EP. They thought that female vocals would provide a contrast to the dark mood of their music and invited

Emma Härdelin Emma Härdelin (born 26 September 1975) is a Swedish musician. She is a violinist and lead singer in folk-rock band Garmarna,Dupont, Linn.Tystnaden gav Garmarna ett nytt sound (in Swedish), Helsingborgs Dagblad, November 27, 2017. which she joi ...

, a long-time friend of the band, as the guest vocalist on the EP. She officially joined the band in 1993. The debut EP sold well in Sweden, and helped the band tour in Scandinavia. On the album ''Vittrad'', the band decided to add samples and sequencers to the mix. In 1994, Omnium released ''Vittrad'' in the United States, with English translations of the old songs. Garmarna started a long

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

tour and released the album '' Guds spelemän'' in 1996. The album sold well in Sweden and was reviewed favourably internationally. In 1998 Garmarna did a series of concerts in churches in the North of Sweden presenting their interpretation of the medieval works of

Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...

, together with actress Felicia Konrad. In 1999 the band released their third album '' Vedergällningen''. The album's production leaned towards

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

, the atmosphere of the music being more obscure than in previous albums. After ''Vedergällningen'', the band collaborated with Swedish House producer Eric S. for their next studio album ''Hildegard von Bingen'', which was released in 2001. The tracks in this album are based on the compositions of 12th century German abbess

, with the lyrics to each song being sung entirely in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. In 2003, their first EP was released as a full album with six bonus tracks. Garmarna-160729

In 2016, the band released their sixth album called '' 6.'' In 2018, Garmarna initiated a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new album, ''Förbundet'', to be released on November 6, 2020. The album was released on Season of Mist containing mostly interpretations of traditional Swedish folk songs and two original tracks by Garmarna. Guest musicians on this album include Maria Franz from

Heilung Heilung is an experimental folk music band made up of members from Denmark, Norway, and Germany. Their music is based on texts and runic inscriptions from Germanic peoples of the Iron Age, and Viking Age. Heilung describe their music as "amplifie ...

and

Anders Norudde Anders Norudde (born Anders Stake, 1960) is a Swedish folk musician, multi-instrumentalist, and luthier. After finishing school, Anders took a job at the ironworks in Degerfors, where, in his spare time, he practiced orienteering and played rock ...

from

Hedningarna Hedningarna (''The Heathens'') is a Swedish, and for some years partly Finnish, folk music band that mixes electronics and rock with elements from old Scandinavian folk music. Their music features yoik or juoiggus, a traditional Sami form of s ...

Band members

* Stefan Brisland-Ferner –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

, sampler – on ''Garmarna'' (2003): jews harp, viola *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, violin * Jens Höglin – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

– on ''Garmarna'' (2003):

death grunts A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

* Gotte Ringqvist –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, violin, backing vocals – on ''Garmarna'' (2003):

lute guitar A lute guitar or German lute (german: Gitarrenlaute, Deutsche Laute or Wandervogellaute, less commonly a ''lutar'' (modern Turkish), ''gui-lute'' or ''gittar'') is a stringed musical instrument, common in Germany from around 1850. The instrumen ...

, jew's harp * Rickard Westman – guitar, bass,

e-bow The EBow, short for electronic bow or energy bow, is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It is manufactured by Heet Sound Products, of Los Angeles, California. It was invented by Greg Heet i ...

– on ''Garmarna'' (2003):

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

, lute guitar

Discography

Albums

Singles

* "Herr Holger" (Sir Holger) (1996) * "En gång ska han gråta" (One Day He Shall Cry) (1997) * "Euchari" (1999) * "Gamen" (The Vulture) (1999) * "Över gränsen" (2015) (Over the Border) * "Kashmir" (2019) * "Ramunder" (2020)

Other

* "Rastlös" (Restless) in compilation ''We're Only in It for the Money'' (1999) *''

Nordic Woman ''Nordic Woman'' is a compilation album that features traditional music forms performed by well known female artists in Nordic countries. Nordic Woman album was released worldwide in 2012. The album is the first release from WOMAN which is an alb ...

'' (2012)

In popular culture

The single "Gamen" was featured in the 2003 video game ''

Project Gotham Racing 2 ''Project Gotham Racing 2'' is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox in November 2003. As in 2001's ''Project Gotham Racing'', the route to advancemen ...

''.

References

External links

Official website (not updated since 2005)New band websitemuzu.tv
All videos
GlobalVillageIdiot's Interview
;Video:
Interview
from The Pure Drop {{Authority control Swedish folk rock groups Melodifestivalen contestants Swedish-language musical groups Westpark Music artists Season of Mist artists