Octantrion is the duo featuring Éléonore Billy and Gaëdic Chambrier with their arsenal including nyckelharpa, hardingfele, guitars, the mandolin family, cittern, bass, percussion, keyboards and programming.  On the album II, they clearly appreciate the special sounds that their instruments project to create acoustic folk fusion. With much sensitivity and a folkloric theme, the music has been prepared to embellish the colors and nuances of their sound. For example, a couple pieces (“Hugin” and “Munin”) refer to the ravens of the Odin, the widely revered god in Germanic mythology. In fact, the album’s credits even list a raven (Couac-Couac) and an animal trainer (Pierre Cadeac). Three other interesting tracks are inspired by the “Elements” of “Vilya” (Air), “Nén” (Water) and “Cén” (Earth), Quenya or High-Elvish words from a language developed by author J. R. R. Tolkien.

Octantrion’s II offers fifteen tracks of which ten originals and five are re-arranged traditional Swedish and Icelandic tunes. The Swedish “Bältares Långdans” opens the set with a declarative exclamation that we are in for a musical journey that will use sonic colors to produce various feelings. Eric Pariche’s choirs provide a mystical impressionism to the composition, as they also do in both renditions of “The Dead King,” a tale that alludes to the passage from one world to another, the advent of Christianity, unification of Scandinavian kingdoms, and changing status of the raven from a deified animal to one symbolic of Hell. A traditional Icelandic tune, “Ragnarök” was inspired by the courage, strength and perseverance of early settlers from Scandinavia. I also enjoyed the enchanting Swedish polska, “Strömkarlen Spelar” that evokes a legendary character,  a water dweller whose fiddle hopelessly draws travelers into the waves.

When applying color to their sonic canvas, Octantrion does it with delicate touch and pensive reflection that allow us to experience the songs’ emotional content. Joining the two eclectic multi-instrumentalists on II, guest musicians enhance some tracks with Celtic harp, bass, tombak and drums. With their fifteen sound sketches, Octantrion has found a way to present their music like painters, with the air as their canvas and notes as their brush strokes. The result has a very pleasant focus, richness, symbiosis with nature, and je ne sais quoi. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)