In the modern day, there is an overabundance of ads, everywhere you look. And though we would all be better off not being hit over the head with advertisements all the time, every now and then you can come across one that was worth your time. Scrolling through Instagram, I was shown an ad of a woman dancing frenetically in an animal skin outfit, wearing an animal skull, and donning tribal pants. I was immediately captivated and needed to know more. This is how I discovered the Viking dance duo Eihwar and saw they would be coming to the United States for their first North American tour, titled the Nordic Ritual Nights Tour. This tour was coming to the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, with this being the only stop to have support from opener Alpine Universe.

The touring opening act Frayle was not on the bill in Los Angeles, as we were treated to a unique show with Alpine Universe opening only for us. The show started with a violinist, cellist, and drummer stepping out onto the stage and drawing us into the music we were about to experience. That’s when Alpine Universe took the stage, adding in his own rhythmic beat through a drum pad and synthesizer before taking the mic. Alpine Universe’s music transforms from folk chanting to trap or dubstep influenced beats to house music. He doesn’t tie himself down to one genre, but each song felt like his. When singing, Alpine Universe switches between a more hard rock inspired screamed style of singing and then implements almost Mongolian throat singing techniques to get a deep bass resonance on his vocals. Whether this was the crowd’s first time hearing him or not, Alpine Universe had us dancing and grooving to the music within the first minutes of his set. Alpine Universe’s goal is to eventually fill the stage with a huge roster of backing musicians to make his sound even bigger, and I would love to experience that show when he can put it together.

It was then time for Eihwar to take the stage, and Los Angeles was in for an experience of a show. Lead vocalist Asrunn is our shaman, draped in animal furs with a skull upon her head, tribal face paint obscuring her actual face. She was more of a being on stage escorting us through the ritual this night. As our guide, she would often be found banging on her shamanic drums, dancing and moving around the stage as if summoning a spirit out in the forest, and singing for us. Her singing isn’t traditional in the sense of what you think of as lyrics to a song, but came across as chanting, adding another rhythmic layer to the song instead of singing on top of it.

The second half of Eihwar is Mark. Mark is dressed more like a dwarven warrior with his steel helmet and cloak. Mark layers his vocals with Asrunn’s, providing gruff snarls, deep growls, and low rhythmic mumblings. This creates a call and response feel, where Asrunn is the angelic voice calling out to the spirits, and Mark is the reply from the beyond. Along with adding his own vocal textures, Mark additionally provides the instrumental side of Eihwar, performing on a drum pad with a floor tom, controlling the electronic elements of their sound, and performing on the acoustic guitar. The man is a very talented multi-instrumentalist.

Eihwar used these elements to perform what they call Viking War Trance music, and it put a trance over the El Rey Theatre. Fans were not headbanging but dancing and frolicking in the audience. There was a sense of ritual in the venue this night, and Eihwar transported us to another realm with songs like “Heill Óðinn”, “Skjaldmö”, “Yggdrasil’s Renewal”, “Freyja’s Calling”, “Viking War Trance”, “Sir Mannelig”, “Völva’s Chant”, “Ragnarök”, “Hugrheim”, “The Forge”, “Nauðiz”, “Ljósgarðr”, and ending with “Berserkr”.

With this being Eihwar’s first tour in America, it felt special to be in the audience for the Los Angeles show, as this was such a unique type of concert experience. It can be a lot of fun to step out of your usual music listening and take a chance on something different. Eihwar may not be for everyone, but to the people that are showing up to these shows, they are finding a musical act that is transcending what a concert could be. This is the one time I will be thankful an ad came across my feed so I could bear witness to Eihwar, and now I only hope they come back to America again soon.