This year's edition of the Incubate festival had two very diverse crowd-drawing acts. One was the infamous, controversial performance artist Hermann Nitsch, but the other was definitely the Norwegian pagan dark ambient folk-band Wardruna. They played one special gig especially for the Incubate festival in the ‘Natuurtheater’ in Oisterwijk.



Incubate organized this special performance of Wardruna very well. People with passepartouts and day-tickets had the chance to go by bus from Tilburg to Oisterwijk, to experience this exclusive gig. Already this trip by bus made this a very special event, because when we arrived in the woods of Oisterwijk the right atmosphere was immediately set by the dark woods. The people had to find their way in a pitch black forest, across a very small sandy track. With the help of a lot of light from the cell phones most of the people found their way to the Natuurtheater. The entrance of the Natuurheater was something else as well; we were welcomed by a big wooden fence entrance, surrounded by huge burning torches. The place was perfectly settled in the middle of a big forest and looked like an old ancient amphi-theater from back in the days. The perfect stage for Wardruna.

People settled themselves and already eerie, dark, esoteric sounding ambient music came out of the sound-system. Instantly a certain atmosphere was created and after a while, behind the stage we saw the people of Wardruna do some kind of ritual or group-meditation and light some torches. From this point on the band took us on a journey through dark forests, fjords, cold and wet caves that are reigning the Norwegian landscape.
 

The music and philosophy of this band is deeply rooted in the old ancient history of Norwegian mythology and paganism. Accompanied by the usage of traditional instruments like the goat horn and tagelharp. Also the use of serene women vocals and deep, low vocals of Gaahl, gives it a unique atmosphere. This is all accompanied by dark, moody ambient music full with sounds of falling stones, wind, water and burning torches. This together with the location, made this show a very memorable, mystical gig. Almost all the songs that were preformed in this one hour gig, where from their debut album Runaljold Gap Var Ginnunga.

Perhaps there are a lot of people who thought Wardruna was just another happy fappy folk band like Finntroll or something like that, but in fact they explore the darkest depths and emotions from the Norwegian mythology and execute it in such an eerie, creepy, beautiful way, that you simply get lost in their musical stories. Fucking brilliant show! This was perfectly demonstrated by the people that walked back in utter silence through the woods back to the busses. Everyone was speechless! (RoyBalowski)

Pic. : Matthias Koller