Sol

Description

SOWULO is the musical project of Dutch composer Faber Horbach, rooted in the spiritual philosophy of ancient Northern Europe and built upon a remarkable variety of historical instruments. Initially self-released in 2016, the album ''Sol'' now joins the Season of Mist catalog. Named after the Nordic goddess of the sun, whose horses pull the chariot of light across the sky while she is relentlessly pursued by the wolf Skoll, ''Sol'' is an album conceived as both a myth and a calendar. Its thirteen tracks trace the pagan annual cycle, from its origin—the primordial void of Ginnungagap—through the eight seasonal festivals, to the final gallop of Arvakr and Alsvidr, the two horses of the sun goddess. While SOWULO's first album, ''Alvenrad'', was orchestral and piano-driven, ''Sol'' returns to a stripped-down acoustic structure, relying on the bouzouki, hammered dulcimer, nyckelharpa, Celtic harp, viola, and wind instruments. The effect is less meditative and more exuberant: the same mythological territory, explored with lightness and a faster pace. Chloé Bakker's harp opens a new harmonic dimension, Pan Bartkowiak's percussion infuses an underlying dance, while Klaartje van Zwoll's viola and vocals unfold within the arrangements with chamber music precision. The result is what CeltCast aptly described as the meeting of pagan folk and chamber music: music that is both grounded in the earth and solemn, yet intimate and highly refined. It is music that follows both a structural and atmospheric logic, each piece marking the passage of seasons within a larger cosmological cycle. ||For fans of WARDRUNA, HEILUNG, DANHEIM, EIVØR.