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Garmarna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Garmarna
Band presentation in 2002
Band presentation in 2002
Background information
OriginSundsvall, Sweden
Genres
Years active1990–present
Labels
MembersStefan Brisland-Ferner
Emma Härdelin
Jens Höglin
Gotte Ringqvist
Rickard Westman
Websitehttps://fearmusic.se

Garmarna is a Swedish folk rock band. Their songs are mainly old Scandinavian ballads.

Biography

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Garmarna was founded in 1990. Stefan Brisland-Ferner, Gotte Ringqvist and Rickard Westman were inspired by old Swedish music, which they had heard in a theatre. They began searching for old tunes and instruments. After two years of playing together, Jens Höglin joined the band on drums.

In 1992 the band recorded their first EP. They thought that female vocals would provide a contrast to the dark mood of their music and invited Emma Härdelin, a long-time friend of the band, as the guest vocalist on the EP. She officially joined the band in 1993. The debut EP sold well in Sweden, and helped the band tour in Scandinavia.

On the album Vittrad, the band decided to add samples and sequencers to the mix. In 1994, Omnium released Vittrad in the United States, with English translations of the old songs.

Garmarna started a long German tour and released the album Guds spelemän in 1996. The album sold well in Sweden and was reviewed favourably internationally.

In 1998 Garmarna did a series of concerts in churches in the North of Sweden presenting their interpretation of the medieval works of Hildegard of Bingen, together with actress Felicia Konrad.

In 1999 the band released their third album Vedergällningen. The album's production leaned towards rock and trip hop, the atmosphere of the music being more obscure than in previous albums.

After Vedergällningen, the band collaborated with Swedish House producer Eric S. for their next studio album Hildegard von Bingen, which was released in 2001.[1] The tracks in this album are based on the compositions of 12th century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen,[2] with the lyrics to each song being sung entirely in Latin.[1]

In 2003, their first EP was released as a full album with six bonus tracks.

Garmarna with Johannes Geworkian Hellman in Uppsala, 2016

In 2016, the band released their sixth album called 6.

In 2018, Garmarna initiated a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new album, Förbundet, to be released on November 6, 2020.[3] The album was released on Season of Mist containing mostly interpretations of traditional Swedish folk songs and two original tracks by Garmarna. Guest musicians on this album include Maria Franz from Heilung and Anders Norudde from Hedningarna.[4]

Band members

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Discography

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Albums

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Year Title Peak chart positions
SWE[5]
1993 Garmarna (EP)
1994 Vittrad (Weathered)
1996 Guds spelemän (The Fiddlers of God) 39
1999 Vedergällningen (The Retribution) 40
2001 Hildegard von Bingen (album)
2003 Garmarna (re-release of the 1993 EP with 6 bonus tracks)
2016 6
2020 Förbundet (The Union)

Singles

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  • "Herr Holger" (Sir Holger) (1996)
  • "En gång ska han gråta" (One Day He Shall Cry) (1997)
  • "Euchari" (1999)
  • "Gamen" (The Vulture) (1999)
  • "Över gränsen" (2015) (Over the Border)
  • "Kashmir" (2019)
  • "Ramunder" (2020)

Other

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  • "Rastlös" (Restless) in compilation We're Only in It for the Money (1999)
  • Nordic Woman (2012)
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The single "Gamen" was featured in the 2003 video game Project Gotham Racing 2.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Garmarna". NorthSide. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011.
  2. ^ Flaska, Barbara (3 September 2001). "Garmarna: Hildegard von Bingen". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Garmana 10 songs 2019". Kickstarter. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  4. ^ Förbundet (Media notes). Garmarna. Season of Mist. p. 14.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ "2 st träffar hittades för sökkriterie: Garmarna". Sverigetopplistan (in Swedish). Retrieved 16 November 2020.
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