Artist: Aethelruna
Title: On Modranihte
Type: 2-track EP
Label: Wodfreca Records

There’s little info about this Derbyshire solo-project on the interweb; the official website appears to have mysteriously been "suspended" and the facebook page is all written in what is presumably the same pre-1066 language of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in which Wulfhelm composes his lyrics. The one thing I can tell you is that this two-track EP is incredibly professionally produced, on a label that is owned by Matt Kay (aka Wulfhelm) himself; no photocopied CD-R jobby here! This is quite understandable when looking into things as the bloke clearly wants a presentable release that will sell copies and hey, it’s all for charity! Yes, the proceeds from the EP will be donated to The Steadfast Trust, a 'nationalist' charity that is committed to ‘positively promoting Englishness’, for example by educating white children about their English heritage and conducting research into the needs of those of English ethnicity. It seems like a worthwhile cause on one level; who can disagree that a child should be able to learn about their heritage whether they are from Mumbai or Manchester, and research suggesting ‘White working class left behind’ does show that something should be done to ensure this socioeconomic group is given an equally fair start in life. It all looks clean enough on the surface, but read into it what you will.

This EP does share something in common with many NSBM/far-right leaning acts; there is a lack of musical substance. Slightly unfair comparison, and I don’t mean to insinuate they share that ideology at all – Aethelruna aren’t blurting out any message of hate here and it’s hard to know what they are singing about given the lyrics aren’t in modern English language. My point is that this is really feeble stuff. Track one which translates in English as ‘On Moderanihte’ begins with a rather flimsy folk melody before the vocals kick in; these aren’t terrible, and have what I’d regard as a Mediterranean warmth to the baritone voice and the choirs give a bit of oomph to the chorus. However it does come across a bit like something I’d expect to hear from one of the Soviet countries in the Eurovision Song Contest. The melody plays out like a floaty yet sorrowful waltz and I do find it growing on me after a couple of plays. The second track ‘Paganland’ is actually a cover originally done by dark ambient artist Hoyland. It’s a quiescent orchestral piece that to begin with feels like it should be in a LOTR film as a precursor to a heroic battle, but this instrumental doesn’t build to anything and simply fades to black. So one short instrumental cover and one mediocre original track doesn’t give you much for your money (not sure how much it’s going to be on sale for), and I’d say they should have given it more time to release something with at least 5 tracks and a lot more substance. This is most uninspiring.

http://www.facebook.com/aethelruna

Luci Herbert

MTUK HOME