Norse mythology was the basis for Scandinavian beliefs, incorporating ideas from Germanic paganism and anglo-saxon mythology that consisted of incredibly long poems describing legends and ideals. Are you asking yourself why this brief history lesson was necessary?
Because a Viking revolution ascended over our town last night, bringing its pillaging friends rap and black metal and leaving behind no survivors.
Norselaw – a Cleveland-based group that consists of MC Valhalla Ice, studio musicians and a dancer named Violet, spearheaded Howard’s last night with their genre of music in which they dubbed, viking rap.
A crowd of 20 gazed on in awe and amazement, unsure of what they were hearing, but positive that it was unlike anything they had ever heard before.
But how did this genre-developing band come to be Norselaw? It evolved out of a high school joke between friends according to Valhalla.
“It started out as a knee-jerk reaction to what I saw going on around me. I was going to these parties where everyone was freestyle rapping in the wake of Eminem’s heyday. Everyone was trying to be serious about themselves and talked about how bad their lives were, so we started doing this thing tongue and cheek,” Valhalla Ice said.
“It was kind of a joke. My buddy had been drawing pictures of vikings rapping in high school. There’s an influence of Norse mythology in the lyrics and Norselaw kind of gave it the rap feeling. We didn’t get too much respect in the rap world doing what what we were doing, we were kinda more like the bloodhound gang I guess, but they started to realize that we had potential.”
With the critically-acclaimed success of their two albums, Sweet Home Scandinavia and Macabre Skies, fans and media alike have also picked up on pontential, with many critics calling Ice’s music “refreshing and unique.”
Ice’s biggest petpeeve, however, is when he is labeled as a novelty rapper. Even though Viking rap is his proclaimed genre, the root word is still rap and some of Ice’s rhymes are not for the faint hearted. “Oh, like it don’t show/I’m raping this track like Kobe Bryant rapes hoes,” are some of the sample lyrics from Ice’s latest album, Macabre Skies, which has received much positive feedback from fans and shows.
“We have had a lot of positive responses to what we do, people who like black metal and rap have accepted it and radio stations are picking it up. This is the third show on this tour and we’ve been having pretty good turn outs and a lot of people have gotten interested in what we do,” Valhalla Ice said.
However, not everything has been smooth sailing for Norselaw.
After losing many founding members and being dropped from a desentigrated record label that closed almost two years ago, Vahalla Ice has had to rely on himself to keep his dream going.
He self-produced his last album, has had to promote himself, but nonetheless, he is very proud of the outcome of his situation.
“I’m curious by nature and I wanted to do something different than everything that was going on around me. It’s a classical take on poetry, we bring the classical aesthetic to modern culture, I’ve won a national poetry award for one of my songs and it’s been published, so that was kind of a big deal. I’m really happy with what I do,” Valhalla Ice said.
Valhalla Ice – whose name is a location in Norse mythology where those who die heroically in battle are inturned, like his namesake has had a situation in which he was labeled heroic. Even though Ice is heavily influenced by Norwegian black metal, a music genre known for its violence and persuasion–which can be attributed to numerous church burnings and murders, he discovered the darker side of the genre almost a year ago.
Ice was driving home last February at night and saw smoke coming from the road. He quickly got out of his car and noticed a small fire in the back of the house and started pounding loudly on the windows, waking an elderly woman up just before the fire sparked and consumed the whole house.
It was later determined that black metal followers had been to culprit of this arson case, as there was a Web site that gave specific instructions as to how ignite a house.
When’ Ice’s background and involvement in the black metal scene was discovered, he was immediately held a suspect and interrogated.
Futher investigation ruled out any possible change of Valhalla Ice’s involvement, and was rewarded a certificate of bravery at a city council meeting.
Regardless of anything else, Valhalla Ice is serious and committed to the music he performs and encourages anyone who thinks otherwise to listen to his music.
“I think rap is at a standstill. There’s so much comparing between different rappers. I’m one of the best rappers in cleveland and I have a unique sound.What I do is not a joke, I consider myself a real rapper and I’ll put myself up against anybody who doubts that. Check us out and see for yourself,” Ice said.
Check Norselaw out at their Web site, www.norselaw.com where clips from concerts and cds can be obtained as well as updated tour information and a picture gallery.