VAFURLOGI – Gneisti af eldi Guðs

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7.5

• Bands:
  WOW YOU
• Duration: 00:48:55
• Available from: 06/26/2026
• Label:

• Norma Evangelium Diaboli

Vafurlogi return with “Gneisti af eldi Guðs”, the second attempt of a project that continues to stand out within the Icelandic black metal scene for a research that is not always comparable to the parallel experiences of its author. Just under two years after the appreciated debut “Í vökulli áþján”, the mastermind Þórir Garðarsson – former guitarist of fundamental groups in the local scene such as Svartidauði and Sinmara – reopens his archive of compositions, recovering material born in different periods: some more recent ideas in fact coexist with songs, fragments and intuitions dating back as far as twenty years ago. The result is an album that maintains a strong continuity with the previous chapter and which once again returns the particular balance between memory and reworking that is the basis of the project.

As told by the musician himself during our interview on the occasion of the publication of the first album, the goal has always been to build a distinct identity compared to the groups with which he has already left his mark. If Svartidauði and Sinmara have often explored more oblique, dark and avant-garde territories, here the starting point is a more direct relationship with a certain black metal tradition, especially the Norwegian one of the nineties. However, this is not a simple nostalgic exercise: the coordinates of this old school are filtered through an Icelandic sensitivity made of subtle tensions, suspended atmospheres and a management of riffing that does everything possible to avoid too predictable solutions.

Given these premises, “Gneisti af eldi Guðs” can be considered a natural continuation of the debut, almost a second part of the same journey. The differences are indeed minimal, both in the setting and in the general climate, and even the slight increase in overall duration does not really change the formula. The songs progress following a precise internal logic, relying more on the stratification of nuances than on obvious changes of direction. It is precisely here that one of the most prominent characteristics of Vafurlogi emerges: a composed, patient and elegant gait, far from uncontrolled fury as well as from a search for immediately recognizable melodies.

The music of the project in fact lives on progressive accumulations and subtractions, on details that emerge slowly and often require multiple listens to be assimilated. Garðarsson's guitars, not surprisingly, partly maintain that enigmatic character that has characterized his previous work: even when they move within apparently familiar formulas, they manage to introduce deviations, small deviations and personal inclinations that prevent the songs from transforming into simple homages to tradition. For this reason, “Gneisti af eldi Guðs” particularly benefits from careful listening, perhaps with headphones, because much of its charm is hidden in the less flashy passages. In short, we are faced with another album in which events are not necessarily announced, but allowed to emerge gradually. Among the most successful episodes we find “Vafurlogi” and “Að handan”, songs capable of best condensing that combination of coldness, melancholy and control that represents the project's trademark.

In summary, compared to the debut we are not faced with a revolution, but rather a consolidation. The heights reached by Svartidauði's works are not touched, but Vafurlogi continues to prove himself as a creature with his own and above all interesting voice, with a proposal that prefers to work on the folds of the composition, building a traditional black metal only on the surface, but on closer inspection personal in substance. And it is precisely this measure that makes it as refined as it is persistent listening.