Draugurinn

Draugurinn is a harrowing musical journey dragging the listener through the fringes of dark ambient and ritualistic drone. Upon its formation in 2008, the Swedish-Icelandic artist and multi-instrumentalist that Draugurinn is named after was also the main composer, lyricist, and musician behind several black metal bands. Over the past decade, the eponymous project has become her sole focus.

Draugurinn offers bewitchment and beauty in equal parts: intricate and layered, sophisticated minimalism saturated with both compositional and conceptual depth. Electronic darkness merges with analogue instruments and percussion, occasionally illuminated by spectral chants. But Draugurinn is so much more than just music – of equal importance is the emotional and visual representation as conveyed through live performances, lyrics, photographs, and paintings.

Following the release of “Móðuharðindin”, in 2012, Draugurinn held a public ritual for the first time. The performance took place at Arosian Black Mass pt. II and was based on “Gandreið”, a piece composed exclusively for this event. Draugurinn’s second outing was at the 2014 edition of North American festival Thirst for Light: Cascadian Summer Solstice, where she performed another exclusive musical suite - “Sumarsólstöður”. This has since become the methodology for Draugurinn in concert: no two performances are the same, the music and accompanying aesthetics are specifically tailored for each event and then never reused.

The vernal equinox of 2020 was meant to see another rare Draugurinn performance: “Minningar úr undirheimum”, set for enactment at a combined art and music event commemorating the release of “Budet” by fellow Nordvis act Grift. However, due to restrictions following the arrival of COVID-19, the gathering was cancelled. While “Minningar úr undirheimum” has yet to be performed in public, the ritual will be granted immortality through a limited-edition release through Nordvis in May 2022.