Terje Bakken

Infobox musical artist
Name = Valfar


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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Terje Bakken
Alias =
Born = September 3, 1978
Died = January 15, 2004
Origin = Norway
Instrument = vocals, Accordion, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Synthesizer, Keyboards
Genre = Black metal, Viking metal, Folk metal
Years_active = 1994–2004
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Associated_acts = Windir
URL =

Terje "Valfar" Bakken (born September 3, 1978, died approximately January 15, 2004 at Reppastølen, Sogndal valley, Norway) was the lead singer and founder of the Norwegian black/folk metal band Windir. Windir was started as a one-man project, but it was expanded into a full band with the release of their 3rd album, "1184". Valfar originally sang his lyrics in Sognamål, a dialect of Norwegian, but eventually switched to English in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience.

Valfar released two demos, "Sognariket", and "Det gamle riket".

His second album, Arntor, which is considered a masterpiece in most eyes, was his second full length album.

Despite the vocal style, Valfar didn't relate his music to black metal. Probably because of how the scene was acting and getting stereotyped with. He instead named his own unique musical style "Sognametal" and Windir itself sounds like its own genre. Other bands that have a Sognametal sound are Cor Scorpii, Vreid, Feigd, Myrkgrav, Mistur, and Sigtyr.

On January 14, 2004, Valfar went for a walk towards his family's cabin at Fagereggi, but he never arrived. Three days later, authorities found his body at Reppastølen in the Sogndal Valley. Valfar had been caught in a snow storm and suffered death from hypothermia.

He was buried at Stedje Church in Sogndal on January 27, 2004.

External links

* [http://www.Windir.no Homepage]