This is going to be a long one, so strap in. Over on metal-archives Windir is listed as part of a compilation that probably breaks Metal Storm's TOS, but I am curious about this compilation for a lot of reasons and I am wondering if anyone can help on this. I do understand if this thread gets closed really quick though simply because of the nature of some of the discussion.
The compilation in question is called European Skinhead Army, supposedly this came out in 1996. According to both metal archives and discogs this contains two tracks by the band Windir under the name Varder. The songs listed are both names of tracks that appeared on Windir demos. While it isn't inconceivable that there are demo tracks on this compilation I'd like to put forth an argument for why it might not be Windir.
First the record label that put out this compilation doesn't deal in metal. Boot Boys Records almost exclusively just reissues old RAC bands, just straight up punk for the most part, not even hardcore. The second thing is that according to the liner notes Sóknardalr was recorded in January of 1997, this would mean the only existing Windir recordings were non-professionally recorded. The other tracks on this compilation are mostly easy to track down, and are all studio versions that appear on full length albums. The recording quality of Windir's recordings at the date of the compilation's release don't match up. The other thing worth noting is that it would also make Windir the only metal band on the compilation. It seems weird that 2 relatively lo-fi metal tracks would appear on an otherwise super polished sounding punk compilation. However this still leaves a conundrum. Who is Varder? I can't find any recordings attributed to this band anywhere online.
Using the wayback machine, the only discussions I can find of if Windir appeared on this compilation come from other metal sites that cite Metal Archives and Discogs, and discussions on the old Discogs forum citing Metal Archives as a source, but nowhere on Metal Archives have I found anything that definitively proves Windir and Varder are the same band. Weirder yet, this item has never been listed on Ebay, and according to Discogs only 38 people own it and it has never been sold through there either. So what we really have is an item so rare that apparently nobody has ever sold it on the internet, that supposedly contains two tracks by Windir under the name Varder, and no evidence of any band actually called Varder ever existing outside of this compilation almost nobody has. It's also possible Varder is Windir.
What I am wondering is if anyone has ever heard this compilation and can in fact confirm the tracks listed as Varder are indeed Windir, or if it's weird happenstance that some band called Varder only released 2 songs and they happened to share names with Windir tracks? Both situations seem truly bizarre to me but I have no clue what third option could exist.
