MOIRAI
BLOOD TREASURE, WOVEN FATES (A5 DIGIPAK)

MOIRAI specialise in the musical treasures of the middle ages with a focus on what has been lost in time, long before current notation systems came into use and of which only tantalising glimpses remain. The unique trio use original written sources and oral traditions, which they artistically interpret and respectfully recombine.
"Blood Treasure, Woven Fates" is a fascinating case in point. On their new album, MOIRAI bring an ancient story back to life that they have extracted from Old Icelandic manuscripts and perform in the original language. On eight of the ten album tracks they sing of the hero Sigurd, who kills the dragon Fafnir and wins a cursed treasure of red gold. They also sing of a bitter feud between two powerful women, Brynhild and Gudrún, and deadly intrigues at the Burgundian court that finally lead to three kings meeting their terrible fate in the halls of Atli, king of the Huns.
MOIRAI were conceived as an American-Swiss duo creating songs in the context of "Alte Musik" ("old music"). The beautiful voices of Hanna Marti and Mara Winter are combined with a sparing yet very effective use of acoustic instrumentation. In addition to their singing, Hanna plays lyre and Mara the flute, which she also does in a recently begun residential role in SANGRE DE MUERDAGO. They expanded to a trio when French musician Félix Verry joined and brought his subtle fiddle playing to the group. Mara Winter was formerly the vocalist and keyboard player in the Cascadian black metal band EIGENLICHT, before moving from Olympia, USA to the Swiss city of Basel (CH) to form MOIRAI with Hanna Marti in October 2015. Hanna performs frequently with the legendary medieval music ensemble SEQUENTIA. Félix and Mara also released three albums together as the experimental dungeon synth duo URGHUN.