#68 - Gunnhild Sundli of Gåte talks new album Sigil
Send us Fan MailIn Nordic Sound #68 Jameson is joined by Norwegian icon Gunnhild Sundli of Gåte to talk about the new album Sigil (out today!) and reflect on Gåte’s two-decade-long role in passing on traditional stories and songs through their unique brand of folk rock. ________Rooted in the intersection of Nordic folk tradition and contemporary rock, GÅTE have spent over two decades developing a sound that feels both ancient and fiercely present. Drawing on centuries-old ballads, oral traditions, and traditional vocal forms, the band transform these sources into music that is physical, emotionally direct and unmistakably their own.Emerging in the early 2000s, GÅTE quickly became one of Norway’s most distinctive bands for their groundbreaking mix of Nordic folk tradition and modern rock. In 2002, their debut album, Jygri, entered at #1 on the Norwegian Albums chart and won them the Spellemann Award (Norwegian Grammy) for Best Newcomer.“GÅTE have been drawing from traditional music and transforming it with modern means into something new right from their beginning”, Metal Hammer writes.After two studio albums, three EPs and one live album, GÅTE took a twelve-year hiatus before returning to critical acclaim and sold-out performances with 2017’s Svevn. Following their folk-leaning LP Nord in 2021, the band went on to represent Norway in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest with a contemporary re-imagining of “Ulveham”, a traditional Norwegian ballad. In 2025, they toured throughout Europe with Leprous.Rather than treat tradition as a fixed reference, GÅTE approach it as a living force. Old material is not preserved for its own sake, but reworked and recontextualized, allowing it to resonate with contemporary urgency and relevance.“Our music comes from a place where tradition is not something fixed, but something alive” the band says. “We draw from old sources because they still speak to us, and because they allow us to express something honest and human today.”GÅTE have now completed their sixth studio album, which will be released on the band’s new label home Season of Mist. While the band has focused primarily on Norway in the past, signing with the international label reflects both the growing interest they have received from around the world and their desire to reach a wider audience.During the fall of 2026, GÅTE will perform the album’s lead single “Sannsiger” and other new songs during a headline tour of Norway and one date in Istanbul, Turkey. Their concerts are well-known for being immersive and intense, balancing raw energy with a ritual-like focus that has earned them a glowing and growing reputation beyond the Nordic region.Sigil is GÅTE's first album for Season of Mist and the most internationally minded chapter of their catalogue to date. Across ten tracks, the record moves through ancient legend and folk narrative to ask what survives once illusion falls away: enchantment, hunger, prophecy, mortality, and finally renewal. “Oskorsreia” conjures the Wild Hunt as a mirror for modern consumption and excess, while “Strandvaskar” draws on coastal burial superstition to stage a quiet exchange between the living and the dead. The album's emotional weight builds toward “Mi Jord”, where the earth itself seems to withdraw on shifting currents, before resolving in “Jostedalsrypa”, a song rooted in the true story of a child who survived alone in the mountains after the Black Death. Musically, Sigil threads Hardanger fiddle, nyckelharpa, and hurdy-gurdy through programmed electronics, heavy guitar, and Gunnhild Sundli's voice, with Maria Franz of HEILUNG joining on lead single "Sannsiger." The record never treats tradition as artefact. Old material is reworked rather than preserved, carrying inherited stories into something urgent and present.Support the showThe Nordic Sound is supported by its patrons over on Patreon.com/jamesonfosterBarMonicaEmberGeorgeBetsCarrieGenLeighMikeCindyClaytonDrakeEricJamieJuliaMaryMichaelMichaelSeanSimonTonyYou too can support the project at patreon.com/nordicsound
