Sorten Muld is a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 folktronica

Folktronica

Folktronica or electrofolk is a genre of music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring samplings of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—and incorporating hip hop rhythms...

 band, formed in 1995. They have won two Danish Grammys for Mark II. The English translation of Sorten Muld is Black Soil.

Their music can be characterized by elegantly composed rhythms, floating sound of typical folk-instruments like bagpipes, flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

s and violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

s, in an electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

-composition that supports the dramatic lyrics

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

. Some tracks on Mark II are up-beat with only few lyrics and could also be characterized as dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

 or techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

. A music critic on the US National Public Radio network described Ulla Bendixen's voice as "...a sensuous whisper cajoling you to listen, even if you don't understand Danish."

The lyrics are old stories from Danish folk tradition, about jealousy

Jealousy

Jealousy is a second emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, particularly in reference to a human connection. Jealousy often consists of a combination of presenting emotions...

, murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 and creatures. In Kirstin from Mark II a father serves his daughter a meal of her boyfriend's heart. In Ulver from III a man takes his girlfriend into the forest to kill and bury her. He falls asleep and she cuts him into pieces with his own sword.

Sorten Muld has also published a concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 called Jord, Luft, Ild, Vand (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) – a mostly instrumental journey through the classic elements

Classical element

Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. Most frequently, classical elements refer to ancient beliefs...

. The album is a remastered recording from a live show at Bornholm

Bornholm

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...

.

After this album they disappeared from the scene, but recently on their official site, three dates for shows appeared in April/May 2011 in Denmark.

Members

• Ulla Bendixen - Vocals
• Martin Ottosen - Musician-Architect
• Henrik Munch - Electronics

(all after this point appear on III only)

• Søren Bendixsen - Guitar
• Harald Haugaard - Viola, Violin, Hurdy-Gurdy
• Johannes Hejl - Double bass
• Niels Kilele - Percussion
• Tommy Nissen - Drums
• Martin Seeberg - Bagpipe, Flute, Jewish harp

Albums

• Sorten Muld (1996)
• Mark II (1997)
• III (2000)
• Jord, Luft, Ild, Vand (2002)

Singles

• Ravnen (1997)
• Ravnen (1997) (alternative cover/tracklist)
• Bonden og Elverpigen (1997)
• Som Stjernerne på Himlens blå (1997)
• Venelite (1998)
• Mylardatter (1998)
• Vølven (2000)

External links

• Official Site
• Information from Northside
• Vilden Ø - Unofficial Site (Danish)