Scottish trio Eld Varg offer up a deliciously powerful riff-laden, groove-heavy and melodically rich heavy metal sound that’s steeped in Norse mythology, epic battles and triumph.
Eld Varg, which means ‘Fire Wolf’ in Swedish, began life as the solo project of guitarist and vocalist Ollie Noakes. He started the project as something for fun in his spare time, but it really connected with people, so he began building it out into a full lineup. Bassist Micah Snow came on board around two years ago before recruiting drummer Andy Hedges.
On the sound they’ve crafted, Ollie told us: “We’re probably a good mix of the classic heavy metal that inspired us to pick up our instruments with a huge mix of modern Viking Metal on top. Think somewhere between Iron Maiden and Amon Amarth, and you’re probably just about there! We’ve also been likened to Volbeat, The Sword and Visigoth before. Low tuned, chunky, heavy guitar riffs, relentless rhythm section, strong addictive vocal lines and some widdly widdly guitar over the top and you’ve got yourself an Eld Varg album!”
Most of Eld Varg’s clock in at around six minutes, so we didn’t get our usual succinct response to the question ‘which three words would you use to describe your music.’ Instead, Ollie told us: “‘Riffs’ would be a good place to start. Every song starts out with a core guitar riff and is built from there, and this album is no different. So if you’re into addictive, chunky guitar riffs, Eld Varg may be up your street!
“‘Stories’ would probably be another good word. I mean this from a lyrical standpoint and a musical one. None of these songs are three-minute radio hits, they’ve been written to take you on a journey. They’ve so much to say and we’ve had quite the voyage writing them, I’m sure you’ll have the same journey through listening!
“‘Strength or Power; will be my last choice, and again, this is on multiple levels. The songs themselves are really powerful, in their sonic strength, you can feel every part of them pounding into your soul. But through the lyrics, the unity we’ve found that these songs have had on the stage is extremely powerful. We’ve some really big unifying moments in our songs, Black Starlight will build upon that, which have always been great to perform alongside crowds!”
And, as Ollie alluded to, our latest taste of this is the band’s new single Black Starlight, which was released at the end of last month. It opens up with a stabbing riff and light drums that continue as Ollie’s engaging war cry takes over. Heavier drums kick in with a cool little riff that drops into palm-muted guitars under more intense vocals, and a stabbing riff flows into a pre-chorus and big singalong chorus “Black Starlight, Summoned for the fight, Black Starlight, Never-ending might.”
A cheeky little “yeah” cry ushers in a chunky riff before a building verse flows into another chorus. That gives way to a delicious guitar solo that lasts well over a minute with the assistance a second guitar creeping in. The guitars continue with high-pitched licks supporting a big final blast of the chorus, before a chunky riff and big driving drums bring it to a fitting conclusion.
On the track, Ollie told us: “It’s what people have grown to know and love from us, but delivered in a new way. We’ve solidified our sound over the years, with low, chunky, addictive guitar riffs, punchy rhythms, with strong melodic vocals and guitars on top, and there is plenty of that to go around. Black Starlight has been something that we’ve really enjoyed playing in the studio. We can’t wait to get out and perform it live, it’s got a huge chorus that will have the crowds singing along!”
That comes ahead of the band’s upcoming second album Destroyer, which is released in November. On it, Ollie said: “We are extremely excited for this album to release, November feels like a long way away! It’s been a really fun album to make, and we’re extremely proud of the results.
“We’ll forever be proud of One Man Army, but there has been real growth for us and this album perfectly shows that. The song writing, performances, production, all of it have been dialled right up, and Destroyer is just a tighter, more focussed and more complete album. All of the heavy riffs, thunderous rhythms, huge choruses, it’s all what you know and love from Eld Varg, but taken to the next level!”
As alluded to, this follows on from the band’s superb debut album One Man Army, which was released two years ago. It’s absolutely packed with delicious heavy metal energy, including the excellent Vulcan’s Hammer, the engaging Iron Cobra, the lively The Thunders of Mount Doom and the near-14-minute epic closing track Between the Moon and Stars.
The Eld Varg sound and Ollie’s songwriting is inspired by Swedish bands like Grand Magus, Amon Amarth, Sabaton, Ghost, Wolf and Spiritual Beggars. “Most of the bands that influenced the song writing from the start, the ones that influenced the band name, still continue to be influential to this day,” Ollie explained. “Grand Magus sits atop the mountain, an absolutely incredible band. Flavours of bands like Amon Amarth, Sabaton, The Sword and Wolf will be in there to some extent, but between the last album and this one I discovered Ningen Isu from Japan. They quickly became a favourite band, and the song The Hell of Mirrors from the new album wouldn’t exist without them turning me onto the stories of Edogawa Ranpo.”
And on what inspires them to write music, Ollie told us: “Pure passion for the medium, I would say. Just picking up a guitar inspires me to write music, and it has been since I first picked up a guitar. It’s great to finally have found my voice through Eld Varg. I think lyrically, there is quite a mix of themes. I usually start with a general feeling or theme that anybody can connect with in their own lives, and then put some Viking/War Paint over the top. So whether you’re looking for stories of power and combat or something a little deeper, you’ll find it in there.”
Eld Varg’s second album Destroyer is released on 14 November, and will be supported by more singles in the buildup. The band just finished up a short tour supporting Brave the Sea, and have plans to play more gigs to celebrate the album release.
And Ollie added: “Eld Varg has been an absolute passion from the very start, and this really shines through in the music. From writing to performing, it’s clear that we’re having a great time, and every crowd we’ve performed to gets it immediately and is there for the same good time we are! This new album is the perfect evolution for fans that have been with us from the start, but is a great entry point to any of you just discovering us. I’d say to stick on Black Starlight, and then the full album at release, turn it up nice and loud and have a good time!”
You can follow Eld Varg on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.
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