The Amazing Lord Of The Rings Project You’ve Never Heard Of
The Hobbits may always be the heroes of Tolkien’s books, the Elves may be held up as the heralds of near-perfection, but often forgotten are the Dwarves. But in 2009, an Italian metal band formed letting the world know they hadn’t forgotten the Dwarves. That band is Wind Rose, a metal band whose music is all about fictional Dwarves, many of them sung from the point of view of the children of Durin–i.e., the Dwarves of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fiction.
Wind Rose
Dressed as fantasy Dwarves, the five members of Wind Rose tour the world singing about the noble Dwarven pursuits of mining, digging, making war, getting drunk, and more. Lead vocalist Francesco Cavalieri often wields things like powerful-looking battle axes as he belts out singles like “Diggy Diggy Hole” and “Mine Mine Mine!”
Fusing together elements of subgenres like folk metal and power metal, Wind Rose creates a sound you could genuinely imagine hearing in a fictional Dwarven watering hole in kingdoms like Erebor or Ironforge (provided, of course, they somehow had electrical outlets for the guitars).
Wind Rose And Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien has done more than just inspire Wind Rose’s look. All across its discography, the band refers to the mythos Tolkien created repeatedly, sometimes indirectly and sometimes by name.
Wardens of the West Wind, Wind Rose’s second studio album, was released in 2015 and includes “The Breed of Durin.” Durin is the very first of the Dwarves to awaken in Tolkien’s mythos, and the rest of his people often refer to themselves as his children.
Two years later came Wind Rose’s Stonehymn and with it “To Erebor,” referencing a famous Tolkien location you’re likely familiar with even if you don’t realize it. Erebor is the name the Dwarves have given the Lonely Mountain–the place Thorin and his allies fight to recapture in The Hobbit.
Two Wind Rose albums later–on Warfront–was “The Battle of the Five Armies,” about the famous clash acting as climax to The Hobbit.
Wind Rose’s Discography
Making music for fifteen years, Wind Rose is on the cusp of releasing its sixth studio album–Trollslayer. Trollslayer hits the market on October 4, and will be the band’s third album since signing with Napalm Records in 2018.
Wind Rose’s first two albums were 2012’s Shadows Over Lothadruin and 2015’s Wardens of the West Wind. It was after their third album, 2017’s Stonehymn, that the group started gaining real traction was scoring invites to large rock festivals.
After signing with Napalm, Wind Rose released Wintersaga in 2019 and Warfront in 2022.
Beyond Tolkien
While they betray a love of all things Tolkien with every album, Wind Rose shows its love for fantasy Dwarves beyond Middle-earth as well.
Fans of Warhammer, for example, need only look at the cover of their upcoming album Trollslayer to recognize one of the Dwarves from the more recent fantasy franchise. In fact the name of the album refers to a Dwarf who has shamed himself in some way and seeks to die heroically to atone for his crimes.
Wind Rose’s last album, Warfront, includes the track “Gates of Ekrund,” referring to a former Dwarven hold in Warhammer that is overtaken by Orcs.
Likewise “Rock and Stone,” the first single from Trollslayer, is about the co-op FPS game Deep Rock Galactic in which players take the role of Dwarves mining all throughout space.
Source: Wind Rose Official Site
