http://virb.com/skyforger Skyforger have been tempering their music in the smithy of the Thundergod since 1995. For the last decade, the band has been fighting under the flag of Latvian Pagan Metal; an extreme blend of traditional Baltic Folk music and various Metal influences ranging from Norwegian inspired Black Metal through to 80s-rooted Heavy Metal. The band's unique combination of ancient and modern influence has given them a wide appeal throughout both the Metal and Folk scenes, and has brought great variety to their song writing over the course of the five Skyforger albums. The first of these was unleashed from the forge in 1997. Titled 'Semigalls' Warchant', the demo-album told tales of the last free Pagan tribes of the Baltic peoples; and their struggles with Christian invaders throughout the thirteenth century. The album's music is heavily inspired by the Scandinavian Black Metal of the early nineties. Harsh and cold, the extremity is balanced by traditional Folk instruments, which anchor the venomous brutality firmly in the past; never loosing sight of the ancestral legends the music seeks to describe. These tales of ancient tribal Latvia and its Heathen tradition were to be expanded upon in Skyforger's first CD, 1998's 'Kauja Pie Saules' ('The Battle of Saule'). Later in 2000 followed their third release, the First World War themed 'Latvian Riflemen'. At the end of 2002 Skyforger signed to German label Folter Records. Soon the world saw the release of their newest Pagan Metal masterpiece - a return to their old themes of ancestral culture and Heathen gods. The album successfully recaptures the spirit of ancient Latvia; this time eschewing specific historical tales in favour of describing the ancient Baltic traditions, myths and wisdom. The music is powerful, precise; perhaps slower overall than previous offerings, which gives each song an unhurried strength - imbued with Pagan fire and crushing might. The next album in line recorded in 2004 is self-released 'Sword Song' - an album of pure Latvian Folk music and a long coming tribute to their ancient forefathers' heritage. Soon later band signed deal with Folter Records for releasing their 'Semigall's Warchant' demo tape on CD format, release date happened in April of 2005. 'Semigalls' Warchant' features every track from the band's original demo (a rarity long since out of print), which has been completely re-mastered and combined with a brand new EP written especially for this release. This new material presents Skyforger's music after a decade of evolution - still burning with Pagan fire and fierce loyalty to the band's Latvian homeland, but with a richer sound and an even stronger fusion of melodic Folk music with their unique brand of extreme Metal. In between album recordings, Skyforger has been also busy on stage, playing as many concerts as they can. Behind the belt of band are already four European tours; many mini-tours and festival appearances and Skyforger is well known for their non-compromise live performances. Currently Skyforger is forging songs for the next album and of course will not forget about live activities on foreign stages. ]]> Virb 2.0 (@skyforger) en http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/4815592 ]]> Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:49:52 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/4815592 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/3915232 ]]> Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:41:56 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/3915232 http://virb.com/skyforger/photos/3396579 ]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:57:44 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/photos/3396579 http://virb.com/skyforger/photos/3396572 ]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:57:29 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/photos/3396572 http://virb.com/skyforger/photos/3396510 ]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:52:43 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/photos/3396510 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/3199756 ]]> Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:00:27 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/3199756 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/2933880 Hail there! I like to shed some light about what will be (Lyric-wise) our upcoming album. Now I am sure it will be called "KURBADS". "Kurbads" is name of legendary hero from Latvian fairytales/legends of old. He magically was born from white mare, grew up very fast and was unimaginable strong! In his tale he travels the world, fights various evil creatures, especially his sworn enemy Snake witch, venture into realm of the dead to save daughter of king, finds the hard way out of there and finally fight in last epic battle against Snake witch and her champion. Tales about Kurbads is half fairy tales and half legends. They was collected and recorded in the end of 19th century by some folk enthusiasts and they are type of "told from mouth to mouth, from generations to generations". Mainly those stories are short or middle length and have many variations. There are several heroes, who were born from various beings and things. For example: son of wood, son of iron, son of blacksmith, son of ox, son of pea, son of wolf and most known son of bear. From tale about son of bear there was written our national epos "The Bear Slayer" (in latvian "Lāčplēsis"). The main story for all of them however in common is very same with some variations. The thing for me there is that some parts, in my view, are coming from very old past, from times of totemism, when some powerful beast (bear or white mare) appears as the first father/mother of some tribe or even nation! Unfortunately, as it happens with such things, these stories are changed all the way through the centuries, some things are forgotten and other things are imagined anew by tellers themselves. But the very core of those tales still is the same and mainly it is legend about Dragonslayer, which have almost every indo-european nation, the man who fight against some mythic evil force and becomes legend. I believe that the tale about "KURBADS" is interesting enough as it discovers many things form past of Latvian people - not historical facts of course, but things from daily life and way of thinking of people who lived in ancient times. Baltic cultural heritage is mostly unknown for the rest of the Europe (even as it is part of it!) and world, so we want to uncover it a bit as best as we can and show that there, in Baltic (Latvian and Lithuanian) literature is as great legends and tales as those about Cuchulainn, Nibelungs, Kalevala, King Arthur and the knights of the round table and such! Peter ]]> Wed, 13 May 2009 12:00:32 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/2933880 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/2108795 Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:45:10 -0800 http://virb.com/skyforger/posts/text/2108795 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/203309 Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:18:13 -0800 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/203309 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/157609 Sat, 25 Aug 2007 07:00:14 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/157609 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/91621 Wed, 30 May 2007 06:15:20 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/91621 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88499 Sat, 26 May 2007 03:05:01 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88499 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88498 Sat, 26 May 2007 02:52:58 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88498 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88135 Fri, 25 May 2007 13:16:41 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88135 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88088 Fri, 25 May 2007 12:20:41 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88088 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88060 From the spring till autumn of 1916 the 2nd and
the 3rd battalions of Latvian Riflemen together with
Russian units were defending small fortifications on
the left bank of the Daugava river – there was the enemy
in front, the river in back and the open, rocky field on
both sides. Germans attacked with poison gas and
Riflemen took a heavy toll therefore the place
had been called – Death Island.

]]> Fri, 25 May 2007 11:44:44 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/88060 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/84659 Mon, 21 May 2007 05:51:46 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/84659 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/84643 Mon, 21 May 2007 05:33:12 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/84643 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/84628 Mon, 21 May 2007 05:08:36 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/84628 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/82213 Thu, 17 May 2007 18:45:43 -0700 http://virb.com/skyforger/audio/82213