Gákti

Sámi joik singing can be atmospheric and otherworldly, but Norway's Torgeir Vassvik pushes it to an eerie extreme. He chants through a palette of dark sonic textures, suggesting the metal-tinged folk of Finland's Pekko Käppi or Tom Waits' more experimental edge.

Vassvik plays munnharpe (frame drum) and bluesy guitar, backed by the fiddling Kjorstad brothers. One plays octave violin with a deep, abrasive sound that conjures up John Cale's viola in the Velvet Underground. On tracks like ‘Whipped’ and ‘The Storm is Coming In’ the squalling, squealing fiddles spur Vassvik's impassioned, agonised vocals on to shamanistic frenzy. On ‘East’ he delves into deeper vocals like the chest-based forms of Asian overtone singing.

Setting off these almost unbearably intense tracks are contemplative interludes such as ‘Drifting Wood’ and ‘Father is an Eagle’. On ‘Orca Angel Dust’ koto-like strings tinkle over an ambient drone, while ‘Global Fever’ is made up of fuzz guitar, electronic beeps and birdsong. ‘Voodoo Against Arctic Oil Drilling’ features sounds like a shortwave radio, perhaps from an intruding tanker. On ‘Beaver in Red Wood’, Vassvik growls and barks along with a loop of howling dogs, seemingly with a wolfish grin – a light moment on an album of uneasy listening.