SOWULO is the musical project of Dutch composer Faber Horbach, rooted in the spiritual philosophy of ancient Northern Europe and built around a remarkable range of historical instruments. Originally self-released in 2016, 'Sol' now found its home in the Season of Mist catalogue.
Named after the Norse sun goddess whose horses pull the chariot of light across the sky while the wolf Sköll gives eternal chase, 'Sol' is an album conceived as both myth and calendar. Its thirteen tracks trace the pagan year wheel from its beginning—the primordial void of Ginnungagap—through the eight seasonal festivals, and out the other side into the closing gallop of Arvakr and Alsvidr, the sun goddess's two horses. Where SOWULO's debut 'Alvenrad' was orchestral and piano-led, 'Sol' strips everything back to an acoustic core built on bouzouki, hammered dulcimer, nyckelharpa, Celtic harp, viola, and woodwinds. The effect is less meditative weight and more kinetic celebration: the same mythological territory, mapped with lighter feet and a more rhythmic pulse. Chloé Bakker's harp opens a new harmonic dimension, Pan Bartkowiak's percussion provides a dancing undercurrent, and Klaartje van Zwoll's viola and vocals weave through the arrangements with chamber-music precision. The result is something CeltCast aptly described as "pagan folk meets chamber music"—earthy and ceremonial, but also intimate and finely crafted.
This is music with a structural logic as much as an atmospheric one, each track a seasonal marker in a larger cosmological cycle.
For fans of WARDRUNA, HEILUNG, DANHEIM, EIVØR.
Artwork by Robin Dekker (aka Tovenaar).