That’s how it was with WARDRUNA

November 28, 2025, Munich, Showpalast

The rustic sounds from the tape fell silent, the hall went pitch black and the loud, wooden cawing of a raven rang through the Munich Showpalast. Kvitravn, the white raven, had landed. On the tattered and torn screen in the background, a video showed the bird and Einar Selvik, head of the genre- and genre-busting dark ambient folk band Wardruna, entered the stage to thunderous applause.

Without wasting any time, the Norwegian dedicated himself to his instrument, a Scandinavian harp, and hit the strings, his colleagues joined in and an indescribable roar went through his bones. The moraharpa, a 500-year-old string instrument, the deep bass drums, the beguilingly clear vocals of Lindy Fay Hella and Selvik, whose powerful voice conjures up spirits from another time – everything merged into a mesmerizing anthem that seemed as out of time as it was modern and transcendent.

In an emotional speech, Einar Selvik described Wardruna’s music not as the sounds of a bygone era, but rather as timeless and inspired by nature, customs and traditions that exist in every culture around the world.

It was a journey through more than 15 years of Wardruna; each album got its moments to shine, and the 2,000 or so people in attendance got to enjoy well-known songs like “Skugge”, “Tyr” and “Isa”. The two-hour show came to a fitting close with “Hibjørnen“, a bedtime song from the new album “Birna”, which was released in January this year. Translated from Norwegian, this means “bear”. And so it makes sense that this lullaby was all about the predator. Selvik stood on stage alone with his harp and enchanted the audience, who were completely under his spell, as he bid them farewell.

Text: Michael Schille
Photos: Markus Werner/thefreelenser

Setlist:
“Kvitravn” – “Hertan” – “Solringen” – “Heimta Thurs” – “Raido” – “Lyfjaberg” – “Voluspá (Skaldic Version)” – “Tyr” – “Isa” – “Grá” – “Himinndotter” – “Birna” — “Rolaust Tre Fell” – “Fehu” – “Helvegen” – “Hibjørnen”