#Gaate #folk rock #folk metal #progressive rock #electronica #progressive metal #Norwegian
Hailing from Trondheim, Norway, Gåte ("riddle" in Norwegian) blended traditional folk melodies from their native country with powerful, fuzzed-up hard rock and electronica. The band was formed in 1999 by two siblings with a strong musical training, singer Gunnhild Sundli and her brother Sveinung. Gunnhild's distinctive vocals, together with Sveinung's playing of the traditional Hardanger fiddle, successfully bridged the gap between Norwegian folk music and harder-edged rock sounds. Many of their songs were based on lyrics by contemporary poet Astrid Krog Halse and folk musician Knut Buen, while others were modern interpretations of traditional melodies. After their first, independent EP in 2000, Gåte were signed by Warner Music Norway, and in early 2002 released the commercially as well as critically successful "Gåte EP". By that time the two Sundli siblings had recruited the band's other members: Magnus Robot Bormark (guitars, synths), Martin Viktor Langlie (drums, percussion) and Gjermund Landro (bass, vocals). Their debut album, "Jygri", also released in 2002, reached platinum status in Norway, as well as winning Spellemanprisen, the local equivalent of a Grammy Award. Its follow-up, "Iselilja", came out in the autumn of 2004. After the release of "Iselilja", Langlie quit the band, and was replaced by Kenneth Kapstad. There were plans of launching the band in Europe, and they even played a few concerts in Germany in the summer of 2005, but by autumn the same year Gunnhild Sundli felt exhausted and needed a break, and the band went on an indefinite hiatus. In 2006 a live album, simply titled "Liva", and featuring some of the band's most representative songs, was released on CD and DVD. On October 24, 2009, the band made a comeback at the cultural festival UKA in Trondheim. What was supposed to be a one-off, led to a small summer tour (5 concerts) in 2010, culminating with a performance on the roof of the Oslo Opera House on August 20, which marked the end of the band. That end would prove to be only preliminary though, as the Sundli siblings suprisingly resurrected the band, with new members, and released a short EP, "Attersyn", in 2017, with more new music and touring to come in 2018. From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4263
