Search - Fire and Ice :: Rûna

Screaming I grasped them

Andreas Faust | Tasmanian Autonomous Zone | 02/09/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the most overtly runic album in Fire + Ice's repertoire, not surprising as it was Ian Read's 'master work of lore' for Edred Thorsson's 'Rune Gild'. I'm not sure how it rates as a 'master work of lore', but considered purely as music it is very much to my taste - Faustian one minute, contemplative the next...and very, very Northern. Noteworthy pieces include the superb opening track 'Runa', the grim and threatening 'Hamr', and a re-recorded version of 'Nine Doors' (first heard on 'Midwinter Fires').



But the central piece of the album is 'Weirdstaves', which is Read's attempt at writing a rune poem. The music changes in mood for each aett (row of eight runes). Read writes three lines for each rune, the first two lines presenting a kind of thesis/antithesis. In SOME of the runes the third line constitutes a synthesis...that is, going beyond the thesis and antithesis to find an entirely higher meaning in the whole.



Here is an example for the third rune of the first aett:



"Thurs will shatter foes and wreak much harm;

Hot sparks fly from Thunar's hone.

But a raging giant proves hard to pen."



The first line concerns the destructive forces of the universe (the 'giants' in Norse mythology).

The second line describes the enemy of the giants - Thor, who fights for order and stability.

The third line looks beyond the opposing sides in the conflict to see what good comes from the whole. "A raging giant proves hard to pen" refers to the challenge that chaos (the giants) presents to order (the gods). Without chaos and adversity to fight against, the cosmos would slide into nihilism and decadence.



Not all of Read's verses can be interpreted in this straightforward way, however, or at least, I find it difficult to do with every line. Often the third line seems to be more of a warning than a synthesis. Other lines are even more cryptic, yet still essentially evocative. The album has an icy beauty it shares with its predecessor 'Midwinter Fires', while not as musically well-rounded as the following album 'Birdking'."