On January 24, 2025 WARDRUNA is set to release their sixth full-length studio album, “Birna.” Birna is an Old Norse word meaning she-bear. Now, as an American, my exposure to bears has been limited—by design. There are plenty of bears in the US and there are plenty of opportunities for people to get up close and personal with them if they have some sort of death wish. I respect bears and I respect my life. Hence, I stay the fuck away from bears. But the Birna WARDRUNA venerates isn’t the land shark that I have nightmares about; it is the archetypical bear, the spiritual guardian, the protector of Nature with a capital n. The band states the album is “a work of art dedicated to the warden of the forest, nature’s caretaker, and her battles here on earth.”

Has there ever been a bad WARDRUNA album? That’s a rhetorical question, and the answer is ‘no.’ And so it remains. “Birna” comprises ten tracks and spans 73 minutes. As with most WARDRUNA albums, “Birna” plays like a performative meditation. A ritual of sorts. It probably goes without saying, but just in case: this is a very mellow album. There are no savage distorted riffs, no evil tremolo, no Cocaine Bear outbreaks. This is all Norse Folk combining traditional instruments with some serious hi-fi sound engineering. The compositions, of course, are masterful, weaving narratives out of soundscape.

Standout tracks are hard to select, but here goes: “Hibjørnen” (the hibernator) as the most unconventional track of the lot. Just a dude strumming his lyre, singing about a sleeping bear and the passing of time. “The sun wheel is constantly on her way / The days grow longer in the shrinking den.” Very simple, very peaceful. “Birna,” because I love the ethereal vocals floating to the thunderous percussions which you just know are made of actual animal hide and not some synthetic fabric alchemized out hydrocarbons. It is also the title track. Hard to go wrong there. I also really dug “Skuggehesten” (the shadow horse) because it sounds evil, not only the title but the actual song. Probably the most metal of all the tracks.

At 73 minutes, listening to this album is a bit of a time investment, but worth every minute of it. While you can turn off the lights and sink into the listening experience that is “Birna,” what you’ll really be thinking about is seeing the album performed live and who you might have to kill to score tickets. To that point, the band has announced that they “will embark on an extensive world tour . . . [that] will take in North and South America, Europe, the UK and Iceland and will see WARDRUNA in Australia and New Zealand for the very first time in January 2025.”

But if you can’t make the show, you always have the album which is also being released with a DVD of the band’s “unique equinox performance at the world heritage site Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Acropolis, Athens.” For lovers of Norse Folk Metal, “Birna” is an album you can’t miss.