JYGRI

Gåte (Norwegian for riddle) was a band from the middle Norway playing Norwegian folk music with influence of prog folkrock/progmetal, and a taste of electronica. You could also find realtionship to Bel Canto, Anneli Drecker and someone would say Bjørk.

You could also say that Gåte is a kind of renewal of traditional Norwegian music. Some of the lyrics come from traditional Norwegian folk songswritings. Stengd Dør (Closed Door) are based on the poems of the Norwegian poet Astrid Krogh Halse. Jygri is the first album released by the Gåte, and sold impressive 40000 copies in Norway. Jygrid is the name of huldra, a folkloric characters in a supernatural female creature. The song Jygri is an old Norwegian folk tune. The lyrics tells us aboat mother Jygri calling for her children by names. The music consists of guitaring, violins, synthesized keyboarding, drumming, and the distinctive voice of 17 years old Gunnhild Sundli. Sveinung Sundli is also knovn as the founder of Storåsfestivalen, one of the biggest Norwegian rock festivals. Gåte is also known as one of most energetic live bands in Norway.

Evidently the tamer album of the band, Jygri is a nice album for one, who enjoys folk as it is and some heavier tunes. I loved the album the first time I heard it. Most of I was impressed of Gunnhild's vocals. The music seems to just back up lots of it.

There are a lot of vocal passages without real words. The first song tells a nice tale as far as I can understan Norwegian. The language is not a problem though, since Gåte is such a melodic band. You needn't consentrate on the lyrics. A great aprt of the melodics come from the violin working together with the drums, which makes a dynamical combo, you really feel like dancing to this.

Note that most of the songs tend to sound a bit similar, especially when playing folk on a lead violin and a heavy guitar in the back. That doesn't mean the music's any worse than what it is. In fact it's great.

Someone I know was teaching a class of 14-year-olds, they were learning Swedish and were supposed to sepak of Norway (that's the way it goes in my country). Some of the kids pointed out, that it's similar to Nightwish, and at that point I'm glad I was not the teacher, I would have laughed them out the class. The musics hardly heavy rock but folk.

The problem with the bands heavy-folk sound is, that it can't be recycled until eternity. It seems that the great vocals are often keeping the music interesting, and after the first 3-4 songs the rest are not as good. This makes the listening experience a bit tame, but if you sit down and enjoy them, they can be really entertaining.

I have yet to find a band that's alike, and I doubt I ever will. The great shame is, that they've done only 2 studio albums so far. This album is great folk, in the word's very sense, but don't expect it to bee too heavy. As I said, itäs not nearly as good as the second album. The record contains quite a few instrumental passages, and though they sound really nice, they don't really add to the listening experience, and you'd rather hear the beautiful female voice again.

Because of the, as some would say, thin experience after the best, first couple of songs, I couldn't give this album more than 3 stars, but after all my admiration, I'm very sure they're worth it. I sensed a great band arising after this and the second album, so here's waiting for some new material.

G'te (English: riddle) is a band from Tr'ndelag, who were formed by Sveinung Sundli (violin, keyboards) in 2000, together with his sister Gunnhild Sundli (vocals), Gjermund Landr' (bass, backing vocals), Martin Langlie (drums) and Magnus Robot B'rmark (guitar, keyboards). In some ways these guys put Def Leppard to shame, as Gunnhild was just 15 at the time, and when they released this their debut album in 2002, she was the grand old age of 17. They take folk as their base, and some of their songs are actually reworkings of Norwegian folk numbers, but they feel far more strident and rough-edged than one would expect from that description. Gunnhild reminds me somewhat of Bj'rk, but with a band whose guitars are so sharp and staccato that one could easily get cut by the jagged riffs.

All lyrics are in Norwegian, but that isn't an issue as it adds to the mystery, as the band switch from one style to another, with the metallic blasting "Springleik" giving way to "Stengd d'r" which features Gunnhild accompanied by a piano and loads of reverb. This album saw them win the Spellemann award for Best New Artist, and Gunnhild's amazing vocals (which even at this age showed incredible power and sustain, moving through jazz, classical and other styles) combined with infectious and melodic support saw them take the critics by storm. This doesn't sound like a young band with a debut, but rather an established act who had been around for years, as this is mature, polished and enjoyable from the very first. I still can't decide which is my favourite studio album from G'te, as they are all so strong. They were soon back in the studio, though.