Terje "Valfar" Bakken (3 September 1978 – 14 January 2004) was the lead singer and founder of the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band

Windir Windir ("Warrior" in English) was a black metal band from Sogndal, Norway. The band was formed in 1994 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Terje "Valfar" Bakken, and released its debut album ''Sóknardalr'' in 1997. Windir combined black meta ...

. Windir was started as a one-man project, but it was expanded into a full band with the release of their third album, '' 1184''. Valfar originally sang his lyrics in Sognamål, a dialect of Norwegian, but eventually switched to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience.

Biography

Terje was born and grew up in

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages i ...

, of which he was very proud, and which later proved central to his lyrics. Terje decided to form

into a full band while he was at college, with some of his classmates becoming the other band members. Valfar released two demos, ''Sogneriket'' and ''Det Gamle Riket''. His second studio album, ''

Arntor ''Arntor'' is the second studio album by Norwegian black metal band Windir. It was released on 11 October 1999 through the record label Head Not Found. It is the last record released with Valfar playing the majority of the instruments. Track ...

'', was the last Windir album recorded by a line-up consisting solely of Valfar. Despite his vocal style, Valfar did not relate his music to black metal, probably because of how the scene acted and was stereotyped. He instead dubbed Windir's musical style as "Sognametal". Other bands that have a Sognametal sound are

Cor Scorpii Cor Scorpii ("Scorpion's Heart" in Latin) is a black metal band from Sogndal, Norway, founded in 2004 by Gaute Refsnes, the former keyboardist of Windir. Cor Scorpii is an alternative name of Antares, the 15th brightest star in the sky. The name w ...

Vreid Vreid is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 2004 after the breakup of Windir following the death of lead singer and founder Valfar. The remaining members along with new guitarist Ese formed Vreid. The band's name is an archaic Norwegian word ...

, Feigd, Mistur, and Sigtyr. He studied

history extensively and his poems stemmed from it.

Death

On 14 January 2004 Valfar went for a walk towards his family's cabin at Fagereggi, but he never arrived. Three days later, authorities found his body at Reppastølen in the Sogndal Valley. Valfar had been caught in a snow storm and died from

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

. He was buried at Stedje Church in

on 27 January 2004. Nearly two months after his death, the remaining members of

decided to disband.

Discography

*''Sogneriket'' (demo, 1995) *''Det Gamle Riket'' (demo, 1995) *''

Sóknardalr ''Sóknardalr'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian black metal band Windir. It was released in April 1997 through the Head Not Found record label. Background Sóknardalr is the old Norse name of Valfar's hometown Sogndal. The lyrics a ...

'' (full-length, 1997) *''

'' (full-length, 1999) *'' 1184'' (full-length, 2001) *''

Likferd ''Likferd'' is the fourth and final full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal band Windir, which was released in 2003. It was the last official album released by Windir before the death of vocalist Valfar. Track listing *All songs wri ...

'' (full-length, 2003) *''

Valfar, ein Windir ''Valfar, ein Windir'' is a 2-disc compilation album by Windir released in 2004. It contains some new recordings, tributes, live songs, and re-recordings. The money made with selling ''Valfar, ein Windir'' goes straight to Valfar's family. A ver ...

'' (compilation, 2004)

References

External links

Windir homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakken, Terje 1978 births 2004 deaths Deaths from hypothermia Accidental deaths in Norway Norwegian heavy metal singers Norwegian black metal musicians Musicians from Sogn og Fjordane Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Place of birth missing 20th-century Norwegian male singers Musicians from Sogndal