A Riff of Retribution – Featured Songs and Inspirations
In a series about heavy metal musicians, it’s impossible not to have some songs that inspired certain scenes or that played a part of the story itself. Here are a few of the ones that came up for A Riff of Retribution:
My Mother Told Me
Popularized by the TV series Vikings, My Mother Told Me (Þat mælti mín móðir) is a poem written as part of the Icelandic Egill’s saga. The story spans approximately 150 years of the lives of Egill Skallagrímisson’s clan, and was likely written by Snorri Sturluson. It also includes the rule of King Harold Fairhair, whom fans of Vikings might be familiar with. Þat mælti mín móðir) reflects the driving purpose behind the Vikings, which was to leave the hostile Scandinavian territories in search of resources and more habitable land.
Þat mælti mín móðir was not set to music until the very early 1900s in a collection of Icelandic folk songs. This melody is the one used in Vikings.
In the past few years, countless musicians have released covers of this song, including heavy metal musicians such as Saltatio Mortis and Trivium’s Matt Heafy. Because Icelandic hasn’t changed much over the centuries, translations into English are considered to be fairly accurate in terms of conveying the original intention behind the poem, even if it isn’t a word-for-word translation.
It’s easy to draw parallels between ancient vikings, from víkingr, a person undertaking a long sea journey, and modern touring musicians. Hale, the main character of A Riff of Retribution, and his co-guitarist are often compared to their Old Norse ancestors. The energy of Saltatio Mortis’ version, which alternates between Icelandic verses and English choruses, is one I tried to emulate in this series, balancing a story about modern metal musicians pulled into an Old Norse plot.
Another notable version of this song was done by SKÁLD entirely in the original language.
Minnie the Moocher – Cab Calloway
Minnie the Moocher from 1931 is one of the most famous jazz songs, written by Cab Calloway. Cab Calloway was the first African-American musician to sell a million copies of a single.
Jazz is actually a major influence in heavy metal music, alongside rock ‘n’ roll and classical music. The use of minor key signatures, gravely and almost distorted vocals, and syncopated rhythms are now major elements in metal. Amaranthe drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen originally started as a jazz drummer.
Minnie the Moocher has been covered by a long list of artists, including Seattle steampunk band Anbey Park, who performed it live during a lockdown livestream in 2020. It was also featured in a Betty Boop film of the same name, where Cab Calloway himself voices a walrus who sings at Betty and her boyfriend Bimbo.
It’s sung very poorly by Sterling Johannson, who was originally a jazz bassist, in A Riff of Retribution.
Ec Man Iötna – SKÁLD
Ec Man Iötna is based on the opening of the Voluspa, also known as The Wise Woman’s Prophecy. This is one of the oldest, most famous, and most important Norse poems. In it, Odin is made aware of the upcoming end of the world and raises a dead seer to ask her about it. The seer tells Odin about the creation of the world, and then the prophecy of Ragnarok and the end of the world. Since Old Norse is fairly similar to modern Icelandic, the translations are considered to be fairly accurate, even if some are open to interpretation.
SKÁLD, which is the Old Norse word for poet, doesn’t include every verse in the original poem. Instead, they have the second, fourth, seventh, and eighth verses. It’s a short but powerful song that captures the sorrow of describing a world that you know is going to end in fire.
Given that A Riff of Retribution leans very heavily into Norse mythology, it probably comes as no surprise that the Voluspa plays a huge role. It’s referenced pretty constantly, including direct references to the verses in Ec Man Iötna.
Norupo – Heilung
While this song itself doesn’t really connect to the series, the music video was actually a huge influence in the direction of this series.
Without giving any spoilers, this song and video inspired the introduction of mountain spirits into the series. Their appearance is based on the stage outfits worn by the band.
(Fun fact: This song is also my post-workout stretch/yoga song.)
Dead men are filled with life.
Eleven years ago, world-renowned guitarists Hale and Aleksandr learned that monsters were real. Hale lost the love of his life, and Aleksandr lost his brother.
When the carnage was over, they vowed to make sure no one else had to go through what they did.
But since then, another band’s bassist has been killed at a festival, and she wasn’t the only one. Hale suspects a vampire was responsible, and that their drummer — the singer of his new band — knows more about it than she’s letting on. When a member of their new act is also attacked by a vampire, everything Hale has tried to keep in the shadows comes to light.
Hale has made a bargain with the gods for the power to heal. But he can’t save everyone.
The dead are rising. The gods are angry. And even they won’t be Hale’s biggest problem.
From USAT Bestselling Author Amir Lane comes a story of music, magic, and mayhem.
Warning: Substance abuse, self-harm, mentions of attempted suicide.
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“Help me! Help me!”
Hale ground his teeth against the instinct to find her. He didn’t know if this tactic was something they learned or if it was ingrained into them. The nearest cabins were all empty right now. They had checked before sundown and found no sign of human life.
That had been several hours ago. Somebody very well could have wandered up into the mountains and gotten hurt or lost in that time.
Hale doubted it.
The same cry came from behind him. This time, it was a man’s voice.
“Help me! Help me!”
Hale stood and raised his crossbow with both hands. Though it was fairly light, he was mindful of the way the weight tugged at the scars behind his left shoulder. In his periphery, Aleksandr sheathed the dagger and raised his own crossbow instead.
This wasn’t right.
Draug weren’t like European or North American vampires. They didn’t move in pairs. It was likely why Hale and Aleksandr had survived doing this so long. It was always two against one.
They had a strategy. His job was to slow the bastards down so Aleksandr could finish them off. Two of them coming from different directions complicated things.
“Hale,” Aleksandr said.
Hale knew that tone.
“Don’t,” he warned.
“You’ve been a good brother.”
“Fuck off.”
Aleksandr laughed softly.
“I love you too, Hale.”
Hale’s lip twitched into a smile despite himself.
“Come on, you fucks,” he muttered.
The silence was worse than the noise. Had they seen the weapons and retreated?
No—
From his left—
“Hale!”
Hale spun.
Eyes glowed yellow in the light of the fire. His finger twitched on the trigger. The bolt went wide.
Dammit!
The draug moved fast, too fast for Hale to follow. There was no point trying to see it. He allowed instinct to take over. He turned in the direction of the hairs prickling on the back of his neck as he released the bolt without letting himself think about it. A howl of pain rang through his eardrums. The draug paused long enough that Hale could see the bolt sticking from her thigh. She stared at him with sharp teeth bared and wide eyes a blue so pale, they were nearly white. She was thin enough that he could make out the bones of her skull and collarbones where her torn and bloody clothes hung loose from her body. It was impossible to tell how old she’d been as human.
Jeans and a t-shirt.
Had she been killed in the summer?
Hale smothered down the guilt before it could distract him. One week a year. That was the agreement. Anything outside that week wasn’t his responsibility. All he could do was put the poor thing out of her misery and keep her from killing anybody else.
His weak shoulder gave out a little as he pulled the trigger again. The bolt stuck between the draug’s ribs instead of her heart.
“How are you doing, Aleksandr?” he shouted.
The lack of verbal response wasn’t encouraging.
“Aleksandr!”
“I’m fine!”
Hale slipped his shoulder to the side, narrowly avoiding the woman’s claws aimed for his face. The ash poisoning was slowing her down already. She was too close for the crossbow. He let it fall to the ground and moved his right leg back.
A sharp cry rang out behind him.
“Aleksandr?”
Hale made the mistake of looking back. He didn’t see Aleksandr or the other draug.
“Aleksandr!”
Gods, where was he? Where—
The woman slammed into him. The snow broke his fall, and the pain was muffled by the spike of adrenaline in his veins. He braced his left hand against her rotting throat to keep her teeth from his face. Cold pain pulled at the scars behind his shoulder. The weak muscles quivered with the effort of holding her back against gravity. Her ugly snarl looked even more inhuman in the firelight.
Hale’s pendants were hot where they’d fallen back against his skin.
Protect him, you bastards, not me. He’s not a fighter!
Hale could handle himself, but Aleksandr—
Aleksandr could hold his own. He wasn’t as soft as he looked. Hale couldn’t think of him while the woman’s short claws raked at his arms. She was clearly young enough they hadn’t had a chance to grow long yet. The sleeves of his jacket kept them from breaking his skin.
Hale shifted to push the woman back a few inches with his good arm. He wedged his knee up between them. His fingers scrambled over his thigh until they found the hilt of his dagger.
Blood splattered on his face as he drove the blade into the underside of her jaw. She howled and screamed around the metal. He kept his grip on the hilt as she jerked back, dislocating her jaw. She fell back, and Hale was on her in a less than a breath. He dropped his weight onto the dagger. It took two tries to get it between the ribs and into her heart.
It was concern for Aleksandr that made him stand as the draug woman thrashed on the snow, not the sick feeling that came with watching her die.
This never did get easier.
When not figuring out what kind of day job an incubus would have or what a necromancer would go to school for, Amir enjoys visiting the nearest Dairy Queen, getting killed in video games, and watching cat videos.
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