Valfreya is a Viking Metal band from Montreal Canada. The band, who combine Symphonic, Death Metal and Folk elements, released their debut back in 2012, followed up by their independently released 2017 record, ‘Promised Land’, from which their most recent music video, ‘Warlords’ was released.
We had the pleasure of interviewing vocalist Corinne Cardinal, and ask her about her band’s music and upcoming work, as well as her opinion on several issues.
Interview
Hello Corinne! How have you and the other members of Valfreya been doing?
Hi, Great! We are doing well even though the pandemic doesn’t always make it easy.
How would you describe your band Valfreya for our readers who are reading about you for the first time?
Valfreya sends a rush of vicious folk and symphonic metal around the world, taking all the jolly melodies from the genre, but then making it faster and more aggressive. Nowadays we describe ourselves more as a black/death symphonic metal band. We could easily include some more wording like folk, melodic and black in order to give justice to our early days.
We released four albums so far. Two of them are concept albums and the other two are acoustic albums (mixing adaptations of our songs into acoustic one and original compositions).
You lately released a music video for Warlords. How did you feel about the reception the video got from the fans?
The feedback is very positive and we are happy to finally be able to show a video with the current lineup.
Your last full album release, the one Warlords is taken from, was Promised Land in 2017. Are you planning or working on any big release any time soon that you’d like to tell us about?
We are presently working on our next full-length album, planned for either late 2021 or early 2022.
To get our readers to know you better and from a different angle, how about we play a little nerdy game? I will give you a scenario in an alternate universe and you’d have to react. Ready?
Ready!
In a universe where you’re the lead singer in a Jazz band, what would the band’s name be?
Humm….eeee….aaahhh..hummm… I don’t know… The Croonies? (because I like Crooners music…) haha Seriously, I hope I’d find something better than that.
It sounds good enough! In a universe where humans are ruled by aliens who tax them with objects they like most, what object or thing would the aliens take from you?
My old teddy…I’ve had it since I was born. I’m not a materialistic person ^_^
In a universe where the senses of taste and hearing are mixed up, what would Valfreya’s music taste like?
Depends on the songs and the albums! ‘Path to Eternity’ would taste like a big feast with a lot of beers. ‘Promised Land’ would taste like sea salt, roasted elves and the blood of those who perished. I could say our next album might taste like burnt flesh 😉
Well that sounds exciting! In a universe where time travel exists and you can go back and forth in time, what era or year would you like to visit?
Hummm…. I would love to see dinosaurs (but not for too long though haha). Otherwise, I’d be curious to see if the human race will survive the next few hundred years…. I don’t know if I really want to know though…
In a universe where instead of money, the sense of humour is the currency, how rich would you be?
I would be well off 😉
Thank you for playing, Corinne! Hope you enjoyed answering these questions. What is your most treasured music-related memory from your childhood?
I’ve been singing in choirs since I was young, but I would say that the most treasured music-related memory would be when my mother was singing for me before I went to sleep. I was always trying to deal for ‘’one more song’’.
We have been moving forward as humans in so many domains. However, in 2021 we still see sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination in many places in the world. Have you ever been treated in a sexist way? How would you face sexism?
Sexism is anchored in our society. The projected images from the media are completely transformed and far from reality. I do not want to be advantaged because I am a woman as much as I don’t want to be disadvantaged. I want to be equal.
What advice on how to deal with discrimination would you give young ones reading this article?
Discrimination should not be allowed. Always follow what feels right and defend those who need it.
Brilliant! Thank you for the interview, Corinne! It was a pleasure.
