Nephila – Hulda (Album)

Nephila – Hulda

Release: 28 August 2026||Genre: Psych, Space Rock, Prog Rock||Label: Mountain Records

Against the sodden grain: Nephila transforms Nordic folklore into something haunting, human and utterly captivating.

It’s been nearly a decade since Sweden based, masked rock collective Nephila crash landed into our orbit. Blending 60s/70s rock – hypnotic grooves, soaring melodies, fanciful whimsy – and an identity, unbeknownst to mankind, that has been well and truly needed in this genre-specific epidemic we currently live in.

Since their spawn, Nephila have bent the rules to their own will, a fact underlined when their self-titled debut on The Sign Records earned a Rock/Metal Album of the Year nomination at Sweden’s P3 Guld Awards in 2022 – vindicating that good rock is good rock, prevailing as an alien entity rather than assimilated to the institution!

Now for the flipside. Themes of Nordic mythology have become the scene’s latest obsession, saturated to the point of exhaustion. Every band with a 1% DNA match seems eager to ride the wave, and, at times, it’s difficult to separate genuine artistic passion from an increasingly overcrowded and uninspired phalanx.

So, I thank you for reading thus far.

Mardiness quelled – a review that is the wonder-fuelled antidote against Viking-themed-fatigue – so let’s have it!

Hulda has been nearly three years in the making. Delayed by the fallout of the pandemic, label bankruptcy and lineup changes, the record carries the weight of its own turbulent journey, emerging all the richer for it. Recorded during the summer of 2024 between guitarist Jacob Hellenrud’s studio and a remote former orphanage in Lappnäs, the album is steeped in isolation, conjuring a haunting atmosphere that stretches from the opening notes of Mother Of The Woods to the eerie, fading whispers of F.I.N.N.

That sense of scale is perhaps best realised on the towering title track, Huldra, where colossal riffs and crash out of the undergrowth and tear through the album’s mist-laden aether. The Hidden Folk is no reprieve. Dancing vocal melodies pirouette around crushing instrumentation, frolicking together through the darkness; reminding listeners that beneath the forest’s shadows lies a strange and enchanting beauty.

Inspired by the Nordic legend of the Skogsrå; a mystical forest spirit who serves as both narrator and guide throughout the record’s conceptual journey. It’s the use of this mythology and ancient folklore that explores and examines modern issues, including identity, freedom, power, femininity, humanity’s relationship with nature, and the attraction and fear of the unknown.

“It’s not just about mythology,” explain vocalists Josephine Asker and the band’s newest member, Linn Edlund. “It’s about what the forest spirit represents, our fascination with the unknown and the tension between being drawn to it and fearing it.”

The obstacles that shaped Huldra have only sharpened Nephila’s vision. It’s proof that when passion outweighs posturing, even the oldest stories can feel thrillingly alive.

A+

AVZD