Fälaren: Ljora

When I read the opening line of the promo sheet for this release, I was a bit wary: “Ljora is the debut album from Norwegian folkgaze band Fälaren.� Folkgaze isn’t exactly my cup of tea. But I’m happy to say that the album has much more to it than that. Indeed, the subsequent description from its label, Appollon Records, pretty much hits the nail on the head: “traveling between fuzzed out psychedelic shoegaze, jazz rock, folk music traditions and sounds of Scandinavia, Ljora is an album where the ambition is to explore the extremes of dynamic range, both sonically and emotionally. Weaving between instrumental landscape painting, improvisation, and storytelling through understated but heartfelt vocals.�

This is not prog in the way many would think of it. I can even imagine some purists being dismayed at me even bringing up the term in relation to Ljora. But it truly progresses from one sound to another throughout the album, while somehow retaining a somewhat distinctive and unified feel. You get a lot of relatively minor key sounds throughout, provoking introspection, in part due to the almost wordless vocals. I would say that the first three tracks could be characterized this way. Then, you are hit with the relatively lengthy Skækkent and distorted guitars in the last half of the song. It’s followed by “Convallia,� which does have a kind of whiny beginning, but ends with a psychedelic flourish. Next is “Molthra,� which starts as a prototypical doom metal tune, provides some jazzy ambience, and then ends largely as it started. The closer, “Velora,� has a sort of early 90s “alt-rock� feel at times before, once again, moving in some unexpected instrumental directions. It’s not one of the stronger tunes on the albums, but it’s representative of this very hard to classify album.

As I mentioned, this one took me a bit by surprise. I don’t know if I will continue to listen to it throughout the year, but I will be on the lookout for Fälaren’s next release. They are a band with promise.

Track Listing
1. Ruinam (4:49)
2. Leilani pt. 1 (2:32)
3. Leilani pt. 2 (4:12)
4. Skækkent (7:36)
5. Convallia (5:54)
6. Molthra (8:42)
7. Velora (6:31)

Added: June 10th 2026
Reviewer: Aaron Steelman
Score:
Related Link: Falaren @ bandcamp
Hits: 13
Language: english

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