Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough share The Northman song "Storm at Sea / Yggdrasill"

This Friday (15 April) Robert Eggers new film The Northman starring Björk, Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe will arrive in UK cinemas, and this afternoon (12 April) Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough have released a song from the 43-track score titled "Storm at Sea / Yggdrasill".

The composers said of the soundtrack, "Rob wanted the world of The Northman to feel harsh and uncomfortable, and for everything to feel like it was caked in mud and dry blood, so it was crucial for the score to mirror that."

For The Northman score, Carolan and Gainsborough consulted musician and ethnographer Poul Høxbro to discuss the history of Viking music, and ended up using traditional instruments including the tagelharpa, langspil, kravik lyre, and säckpipa.

Carolan said, "One of the pieces we wrote was intended to emulate the sound of a bullroarer; an ancient, relatively humble looking instrument used in sacred rituals, or in battle to intimidate enemies. It makes a really disorienting roaring vibrato sound and was capable of creating insanely low frequencies that could travel for miles. For this we attempted to do the same thing, but the twist being that we used a huge, 40 piece string ensemble in order to do so. Recording that made for a pretty mad, suitably unsettling experience."