Cygnus Rock Band - Sleipnir (Fire and Tales)

Yes, I know I have already written a review earlier about this song. But on one hand it was long ago, soon after starting this blog back in July 2023, on the other this song is so beautiful that it deserves not just another, but a hundred more reviews and glorifying prayers.

Well, this song IS a glorifying prayer, but we'll talk about it later.

You can still hear the last, subtly fading tunes of the overture then Sleipnir's gentle, but playful theme hits your ears.

The intro of this song already has it all to sweep me off my feet. Tambourine and tiple together, with a beautiful folk melody that captivates the listener in the very first moment. 

That's it. 

I'm already in love. 

The song grabs me by my waist, holds me tight and playfully laughs at me. And it's only the beginning, the dance of these two instruments

by the way, if you listen to it well, especially the tambourine, you will hear something very special, very interesting and creative

no, I won't tell you

you'll kindly keep your ears open

and they are soon joined by the strings and the electric instruments. The song holds you in its arms, doesn't let your glance go, your heart is throbbing, then the two velvety, powerful male voices enter and you fall into its strong, passionate embrace.

You may remember, dear Reader, I mentioned in the summary of this album the 6 things that make this album "Fire and Tales" so irresistibly beautiful for me. They can be found right here, in the first approx. 40 seconds of the album's 2nd song. I will not make any huge spoilers by saying that this keeps going like that for the rest of "Fire and Tales", until the very last note. 

Here comes a wonderful, hidden gem, right when Deneb starts to sing. 

Who are the twain that on ten feet run?

Three eyes they have, but tail only one

Ruxx continues:

Good is thy riddle, and guess it is

That's Odin riding the lord of horses, Sleipnir

This, dear Reader, is none else than a detail from Hervarar saga ok Heiđreks, a Germanic epos from the 13th century.

(Which, by the way, was translated into English by none else than Christopher Tolkien.)

Yes. This song IS epic poetry, in every sense of the word. A glorifying prayer for Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir, sung by real, actual bards.

Because they're so wonderful, so talented and so amazing that they can do this, too.

Do you see now why I love them this much?...

The song then continues with a monumental chorus, all the strings, the electrics and the drums hold together in a roundel around the listener and you feel that they touch your living, beating heart, holding it in their gentle hands.

I don't know how many times I've listened to this song, on loop, endlessly, often in tears, having goosebumps by its richness and beauty. Nights of wandering around my grey, joyless hometown, staring at the stairy sky, absorbing every note of this song like a drug addict, until it possessed me and made me dissolve in itself, as the humane voices, the tiple and the strings were dancing around. The most beautiful in it, and one of the main reasons why I love Cygnus so much is that no matter how many hundred times I listen to it, on repeat for hours or just when the player app jumps on it out of random caprice while listening to my Cygnus playlist - every time I find something new and exciting in it. Every time this song surprises me with a hidden beauty. There's always a little gift hiding somewhere waiting for me to discover it. The more I listen to it, the more it becomes an enigma.

The second stanza continues to walk the path of the first part: subtle, aethereal strings in the background, shy but beautiful tiple playing hide-and-seek, all together letting the humane vocals dominate. Here the rhythm section ceases to rule the sound; even though their presence is tangible, the drums keep back their metal-soaked, harsh sound, instead they function as the song's heartbeat, while the bass subtly lets you know it's there, holding the song on its shoulders with its comforting deep growl.

The chorus is followed by a tiny piece of beautiful bridge with the sound of a flute, then the orchestra joins it, then they give place to the guitar solo

here, if you open your ears, you can hear the bass emerging a bit from the background

then the epic chorus returns and I would like to draw your attention to the final part of it, where the kickdrum and the bass are locked together. Being an avid fan of rhythm section, for me personally it's a joy to listen to.

And to watch.

Because this song has got its own video as well.

Back in 2021 Cygnus has made a "home office edition" video for this song, during the lockdowns. They practically re-recorded it and in my personal opinion this way the song is even more lively, even more powerful than the album version. For this reason - and for the plain & simple reason that I LOVE to watch my favorite band instead of staring at an image - I share this home office version here. If you'd like to hear the album version, just click or tap here.