Fourth album for these modern troubadours, who invent a Middle Ages as real as life. This collection closes a tetralogy devoted to the cycle of the seasons, each of the group’s albums bearing the name of a pagan festival celebrating a particular period of the year: Ostara (spring), Litha (summer), Samhain (autumn) and finally Yule (winter). Most of the pieces are original, and the majority are by François Rainville, who is also at the helm of several instruments including the cistrum, mandora and fiddle! He is accompanied by his colleagues Steve Grenier (psaltery, dulcimer and percussion), François Perron (flutes, chalumeau) and Andrew Wells-Oberegger (oud, bouzouki, bansuri, etc.), each of whom contributes a piece, accompanied by traditional tunes, motets, chançonete or estampie. The quartet is joined, as required, by a number of renowned musicians: Dominic Haerinck on harp, Alex Kehler on nyckelharpa, Frédéric Fontaine on Jew’s harp and singers Jordan Delage and Franco Turi Lombardo.
The inspiration is mainly Nordic, and will certainly appeal to those who have enjoyed the various television versions of Ragnar Lodbrok’s universe. The album also features a song based on an Old Norse text. Skarazula’s music also has an energy that would not have displeased the legendary Viking king, and which is often lacking among purists of the genre.
