Most of the heathen metal fans will recognize what this album is about when reading the title of OAKENSHIELD’s debut album, Gylfaginning. The songs deal with some of the central parts of northern mythology: OAKENSHIELD takes the listener to a one hour journey from Gunningagap, the emptiness at the beginning of creation, to the final battle Vigridr.
Only one musician, but plenty of instruments and fine melodies arrange for eleven mostly calm and solemn songs. Although the tracks are adequately elevated for the plot, they are still quite varying. And with its unagitated style, Gylfaginning literally invites the listener to lay back, relax and let the songs take him away to ancient times for the next sixty minutes. Thematically, the album does not differ that much from the nowadays ever-present (e.g.) Ensiferum- and Moonsorrow-clones, but compared to those, there is another big difference: Already on his first studio album, OAKENSHIELD was able to create a somehow unworried and (partly) stand-alone sound.
After the two demos (one of them under the moniker of “Nifelhel”), OAKENSHIELD was able to strengthen the good impressions he had already made!