Hrafnablót is a name that you will be hearing about more often as times passes. Hailing from the rugged lands of Iceland, this sorcerous folk metal unit emerged from the darkening autumn nights in 2024, and ever since has been perfecting their magical storm, culminating in their debut album "Guðlaugar Saga" which has already garnered attention from media publications overseas.

     The Icelandic metal scene is witnessing a new force and so the only way to grapple with the folkloric sextet was to interrogate them, no blood was spilt, although brennivín is now on the bucket list, skál!

Do you all have your own favourite Icelandic folklore or story, what do they mean and do they also filter into your music?

• Þórgnýr here, bassist for Hrafnablót:

     "My favourite story is without a doubt the tale of Galdra-Loftur, an Icelandic man who became obsessed with sorcery and the pursuit of forbidden knowledge. According to the story, he studied magic at Hólar and eventually became determined to obtain Rauðskinna, a legendary book of black magic that had supposedly been buried with the notoriously cruel Bishop Gottskálk.

     Loftur goes so far as to raise the dead bishops of Hólar from their graves in an attempt to force Gottskálk to surrender the book. He comes incredibly close, but fails, and afterwards becomes convinced that he is damned. The story eventually ends with Loftur going out to sea in a small boat, where a huge grey, hairy hand is said to rise from the water, grab the boat and drag him beneath the surface.

     I love it because it has almost everything that fascinates me about Icelandic folklore: sorcery, necromancy, Christianity and pagan superstition existing side by side, forbidden knowledge, obsession and a wonderfully bleak ending. It almost reads like an Icelandic Faust story. That darker side of our folklore absolutely filters into Hrafnablót, both in the stories we tell and in the atmosphere we try to create around the music."


Your debut album "Guðlaugar saga" dropped 11th September - was there a launch party in Reykjavík? Will you be looking to tour in Europe in aid of your debut album? 

     "Yes, although we're actually celebrating it in two stages. On September 10th, the night before the album comes out, we held a free listening party at Lemmy, a bar in Reykjavík. We played "Guðlaugar Saga" from beginning to end, so people there heard the entire record a few hours before its official release at midnight.

     Then on November 26th we're doing the proper "Guðlaugar Saga" release concert, where we'll be able to give the album the full live treatment.

     Europe is absolutely the next major goal for us. We're looking towards 2027 for festivals, support opportunities and the right chances to play outside Iceland. Iceland is a fantastic place to make this kind of music, but geographically it also means that playing abroad takes considerably more planning than getting in a van and driving across a border. We definitely want "Guðlaugar Saga" to take us outside Iceland."


What plans do you have for the latter half of 2026 and going into 2027? Do you have any thank yous, hellos, etc that you wish to send out.

     "Right now everything has been revolving around finally getting "Guðlaugar Saga" out into the world. We've spent a huge part of the band's existence creating this record, so September 11th felt like the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

     The rest of 2026 is about giving the album as much life as possible, playing the release show in November, developing our sound further and continuing to make the live show bigger and more immersive.

     
     Going into 2027, the ambition becomes much more international. We want to play more festivals, start getting Hrafnablót onto stages outside Iceland and bring this music to people who have discovered us through the album. We're an independent band at the moment, but naturally we'd also like to reach the point where the right labels, booking agents and festivals see something worth investing in.

     And a huge thank you has to go to everyone who has listened, bought the record, preordered it, shared our music, written about us, played us on the radio or come to a show. When you're an independent band from a small island in the North Atlantic, every person who takes the time to support what you're doing genuinely makes a difference."

This is only the beginning.


"Guðlaugar Saga" is out now via an independent release

https://www.facebook.com/hrafnablot/?locale=en_GB

Mentioning the Eurovision Song Contest usually brings to the fore the flamboyant outfits, lovey-dovey pop songs and the evident 'block-voting' syndrome. However occasionally the event delivers some rather outstanding and unique entries, from Heavy Metallers Lordi (delivered Finland's first ever win in 2006) to Hungary's Post-Hardcore group AWS (post-Eurovision performed at Wacken Open Air)... then came Iceland's turn to abandon the safe-zone, free itself from the shackles of formulaic Eurovision pop music and embrace a darker, more aesthetically-pleasing and original tone in the form of Hatari, who are a 'Award-winning, anti-capitalist, BDSM, techno-dystopian, performance art collective'.

Of course they are not a metal band, however arguably through their performance which befits that of a Rammstein show; through pyrotechnics, elaborate outfits and singing in a language that demands your utmost attention, they might as well be. The unfurling of the Palestinian flags will be seen as a political statement and perhaps the most controversial thing to happen at Eurovision (although the counter-argument is Ukraine's winning song '1944' by Jamela; centres around the deportation of the Crimean Tatars), could the Eurovision be political in that it allows Australia and Israel to participate, but not Kosovo nor Gibraltar or the Faroe Islands due to the latter two not being independent nations. With that in mind it does beg the question whether the ESC is contradictory in it's own rulings or whether there needs a massive shake-up... let's face it will Punk Rock ever get a look in? Maybe the UK should send the Sex Pistols... let's see how far that goes, but for now GMA caught up with Matthías Haraldsson, harsh vocalist of Hatari and discussed about post-Eurovision events, their first EP 'Neysluvara' and of course if everything is going according to plan. 

For your listening pleasure we have included the single / music video for 'Klefi / Samed', curated by Hatari and Palestinian musician Bashar Murad. Next to this is 'Hatrið Mun Sigra', Hatari's Eurovision song, whilst the jurors did not really appreciate the song, the public vote was very high - they finished 10th... we like to think Europe understand the message Hatari are conveying.

Hatari are currently doing shows in Iceland and abroad, check out their Facebook page for dates coming up and ones to be announced.

London show has sold out.

https://www.facebook.com/hatridmunsigra/
https://hatari.is/