| Valfar | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Terje Bakken |
| Born | September 3, 1978 |
| Origin | Norway |
| Died | 15 January 2004 (aged 25) |
| Genres | Black metal, Viking metal, folk metal |
| Instruments | Vocals, accordion, guitar, bass, drums, synthesizer, keyboards, programming |
| Years active | 1994–2004 |
| Associated acts | Windir |
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.
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Valfar released two demos, "Sognariket", and "Det gamle riket".
His second album, Arntor, was the last Windir album that consisted solely of Valfar as the line-up.
Despite his vocal style, Valfar did not relate his music to black metal, probably because of how the scene acted and was stereotyped. He instead dubbed Windir's musical style as "Sognametal". Other bands that have a Sognametal sound are Cor Scorpii, Vreid, Feigd, 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 died from hypothermia.
He was buried at Stedje Church in Sogndal on January 27, 2004.