Danheim (DK)

About

Danheim is the project of Copenhagen based musician Reidar Schæfer Olsen, who pivoted hard into Norse mythology around 2016 and never looked back. Before that he worked mostly in electronic music, but once the old legends took hold, he started weaving together ambient soundscapes, Nordic folk instrumentation and mythological storytelling into something that reviewers have called "Brian Eno doing the soundtrack for Game of Thrones". Lyrically the music digs into tales like Hrungnir's battle with Thor and the story of Fimbulwinter, and the production choices are just as vivid: on his 2019 album Hringrás, the final three minutes of one track were recorded using only parts of dead plants, animals, and actual human bones. His music caught the attention of the History Channel series Vikings, landing him a spot contributing to the soundtrack for three episodes in season six. One of the show's actors, Georgia Hirst, was moved enough to put out a social media video praising his work. Since 2016 he has put out eight records on his own independent label, building a YouTube audience of over 555,000 subscribers and more than 220 million views by mid 2023. His 2020 album Skapanir, which he released ahead of schedule to give fans something during pandemic lockdowns, drew praise for its "visceral and hypnotic" compositions and "multidimensional Viking soundbath".