Sonne Hagal is a German

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

and neofolk group.

History

The band originates from

Rathenow Rathenow () is a town in the district of Havelland in Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 24,063 (2020). Overview The Protestant church of St. Marien Andreas, originally a basilica, and transformed to the Gothic style in 1517-1589, and the ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

where the core line-up was formed in 1992. The members were part of the local punk rock and experimental pop music scene. The early records from the 1990s were

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

. A breakthrough came with the 10" album ''Sinnreger'' from 2000, where the band had adopted conventions from the

dark wave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

and neofolk genres. The album includes the German folk song "Herbstlied", a poem by the

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

poet

Else Lasker-Schüler Else Lasker-Schüler (née Elisabeth Schüler) (; 11 February 1869 – 22 January 1945) was a German-Jewish poet and playwright famous for her bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and her poetry. She was one of the few women affiliated with the Expressi ...

, and a track based on an agitation song by Rosa Luxemburg. The following releases deepened the band's interest in

runes Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

Eddic poetry The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

and nature lyricism, and saw collaborations with Andreas Ritter of

Forseti Forseti (Old Norse "the presiding one", "president" in modern Icelandic and Faroese) is the god of justice and reconciliation in Norse mythology. He is generally identified with Fosite, a god of the Frisians. Name Grimm took ''Forseti'', "''pr ...

and Kim Larsen of Of the Wand & the Moon. On the album ''Sonne Hagal vs. Polarzirkel'' the band collaborated with the electronic sound artists Polarzirkel and Nerthus to create

atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a ...

music with

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...

istic elements. On the 2005 single "Dygel" they collaborated with

Ian Read Ian C. Read (born 1953) is a Scottish-born American business executive and a chartered accountant, serving as executive chairman of pharmaceutical company Pfizer. He was succeeded as CEO by Albert Bourla on 1 January 2019, becoming executive c ...

and

Matt Howden Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

. The members of the band have chosen to be anonymous. The name was chosen to reflect the thematic interest in runes and Northern European

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...

. Sonne is German for

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

and hagal is one of the runes. According to the singer of the band, modern people can learn a lot from ancient religion and philosophy. He has stressed the advantages of

polytheism Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, t ...

, harmony with the laws of nature, the ability to find holiness in many places, the view of humans as part of nature, and how the runes can teach people about nondualism.Sonne Hagal
Funprox.

Discography

Albums and EPs

Compilations

References

External links

; Official
Official Sonne Hagal Site
; Unofficial
Interview with Sonne Hagal on funprox.comInterview with Sonne Hagal on heathenharvest.com
Neofolk music groups German musical groups Modern pagan musical groups Modern paganism in Germany {{Germany-band-stub