[ATTENDED: September 20, 2026] Eihwar
I hadn’t heard of Eihwar before seeing the ad for this show, but when I saw the photo and learned that the singer of the band does, indeed, wear a giant animal head on her head, I had to investigate. So Eihwar is a French tribal electronic neo-folk musical duo who go by the pseudonyms Asrunn and Mark. They are originally from Toulouse and have been around since 2023. The band is distinguished by a style that it calls itself “Viking War Trance”, mixing tribal percussion, evocative songs and electronic rhythms inspired by Norse mythology.
So they look Nordic but are actually French. But who cares, because they put on a hell of a show.
When I entered the venue there was a crowd around the stage–which doesn’t always happen. But there were two guys wearing long robes with hoods with leather belts–one with a pelt attached to his belt. Elsewhere in the room were men in corpse paint (which may have been for Frayle–indeed, the guys in robes may have been, too). And when I left, there was a guy with an animal skull on his head. For a band that never toured the States before, they certainly had a devoted crowd.
It’s just the two of them, Asrunn sings and plays a hand drum (I’m assuming a Sami) while Mark, dressed like a knight of templar or something, plays all of the electronic instruments (and an occasional acoustic guitar). I actually assumed that Asrunn wasn’t singing words–that it was just cool ethereal sounds. But their bandcamp page shows lyrics for all of the songs (on the new album), most in Icelandic, or at least that’s what the translation apps think. Regardless, the point is, there are words, whether made up or not.
Typically, Asrunn sings at the mic stand and then when its just an instrumental, she picks up the drum and dances around the stage. It’s pretty intense and when she leans her head forward and you can only see the skull, it’s downright creepy. (more…)
