Hrafnablót, the new folk-metal act from Reykjavik, entered the game hard with their first official single “Svartigaldur”, a track that doesn’t resemble anything being released today. It’s folk, it’s blackened, it’s theatrical, it’s frozen like the Icelandic land — and above all, it’s the beginning of an entire Saga.
“Svartigaldur” is a mutated Icelandic sea-shanty, based on the traditional “Að bíða þess sem búið er”. The riff keeps the whole track tied together like a rope on a longship, while the rhythms recall oars hitting water. The story is clear: Guðlaug, the album’s protagonist, is abducted and tied to the mast because they took her for a witch. That’s where the adventure begins.
The video, directed by bassist Þórgnýr Einar Albertsson, is exactly what it should be: winter, wind, snow, −15°C, and the band playing as if performing a ritual. From the Selvogur lighthouse to the forests of Þrastarskógur, Hrafnablót show that they don’t just make music — they make ritual.
The upcoming album Guðlaugar Saga (autumn 2026) is a complete Icelandic story: battles, feasts, abductions, mysticism, life-and-death choices. Guðlaug, a modern woman with only her clothes and a taser, suddenly finds herself in the age of the first settlements. The album explores whether she will return to the present or stay in the past to build a new fate.
Musically, the album is dark and bright at once. Folk with black metal, NWOBHM with Icelandic tradition, gothic aesthetics with extreme metal. It has seven full tracks and two spoken-word rituals — prophecies, reflections, and stories that tie the whole concept together.
Hrafnablót have already become a name on the Icelandic scene, playing at Íslenski Rokkbarinn, Lemmy, BIRD, and at the Icelandic Sorcery Festival, where drummer Andri played with a serious back injury, getting up only for the live show and then back down to the floor. That’s dedication.
The single’s artwork, by Ana Nikitina, shows Guðlaug tied to the mast, with Icelandic magical staves around her — symbols of protection from black magic. The whole project is tied to folklore, skaldic poetry and Icelandic magical tradition.
Their influences range from Bathory and Cradle of Filth, all the way to Iron Maiden, Ensiferum, Nightwish, Wintersun, and the whole spectrum of folk/gothic/extreme metal. The result is something of their own: sorcerous folk metal, as they call it themselves.
With “Svartigaldur”, Hrafnablót open the gate to Guðlaugar Saga and invite us into a world where Icelandic tradition meets metal in a way we’ve never seen before.
Spotify: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/hrafnablt/svartigaldur
Bandcamp: https://hrafnablot.bandcamp.com/
