SÓLSTAFIR – Hin Helga Kvöl

vote
8.0

• Bands:
  SOLSTAFIR
• Duration: 00:48:21
• Available from: 08/11/2024
• Label:

• Century Media Records

Streaming not yet available

In this miserably quantitative world of ours, where the corporate approach has now engulfed every aspect of existence, dehumanizing and brutalizing it, at least music still manages, at least in part, to free itself from these libations of nothingness, often standing up with its sole, frank, simple force, leaving the quantitative aspect simply to a simple vote at the beginning – which we like to think is a summary, by no means exhaustive, of what an intellectual work makes us feel, and should not be interpreted in an excessively repelling or inviting way listening.
In the case of Sólstafir and their unmistakable hybrid of post-rock/metal, hard rock, crooning and remnants of extreme metal, giving a numerical stamp to what they have produced becomes even more insignificant, if we want, because listening to them only makes you want to abandon yourself to the 'effluvia of notes, which seem to recall, in an overused but still significant cliché, the cold, silent and inhospitable territories of their land of origin.
Yet, if 'Icelandicness' is a concept cleared and commodified far and wide, in the musical field and even more so in that of effective exploration of the isolated Nordic nation, one of the proudest, most credible and combative exponents still remains the four from Reykjavík. Who, in the tidal waves of growing popularity and expectations that could have burned or corrupted them – at least since with “Svartir Sandar” their status on the international scene changed perceptibly – have so far shown no uncertainty, renewing their magic with every subsequent publication.
The years pass, the inspiration apparently does not dissipate and with “Hin Helga Kvöl” we arrive at another album that has no intention of descending into vulgar tones.
One could close the review of “Hin Helga Kvöl” by simply stating that “the Sólstafir are the Sólstafir“, suggesting that there is nothing who knows how new in the performance offered on their eighth album. Having abandoned the subtleties of the strings and a certain softness, emphasized in the period of “Ótta” and “Berdreyminn”, through the rougher and more essential – in the arrangements rather than in the structures – “Endless Twilight Of Codependent Love”, we continue partly in the address of the previous album, composing a tracklist as jagged in its approaches and different degrees of hardness, as it is cohesive and fragrant in the final outcome.
Of course, there are some shots towards a cruder dimension similar to black metal (the title track, “Nú mun ljósið deyja”), but essentially the special, very personal poetics at the basis of all the artistic feeling of the formation is the typical and easily recognizable, if you have a minimum of familiarity with the constructs of Aðalbjörn Tryggvason and companions.
A bit like what happened with “Endless Twilight Of Codependent Love”, this not excessively refined sound, bristly to the point of being angular, can initially disorientate or annoy, but quickly reveals itself as an excellent framework for Sólstafir in their most hard rock mode , visceral and with heart in hand. The painful and melancholic guitar playing, the strangled and desperate voices of the aforementioned Tryggvason, the hypnotic and restless tempos, the wandering wanderings in Hamlet-like and reflective movements, remain the pillars of a style that refuses to become habit and routine.
If anyone would like to claim that in “Hin Helga Kvöl” there is not that, let's say, 'intellectual' streak of their other releases, to balance this characteristic there is however the frank, rocking storytelling of songs such as the opener “Hún andar ” and “Blakkrakki”, not surprisingly chosen as a preview of the album.
A direction, this, which is not at all univocal, because then one remains enchanted and mesmerized by the languid tones of “Sálumessa” and its cinematic minimalism; or we get overwhelmed by the sharp hits and the dreamy epic of “Vor ás”, with the effects on the guitars that open the auditory and sensorial horizons towards endless spaces. In the dissolution of the rock urgency, the band finds equal brilliance, with the simple voice/piano combination at the start of “Freygátan”, or the severe Nordic nature of “Kuml”, a strange experiment between ambient, ceremonial music and jazz inspiration which, after having a moment taken aback, the ratings reveal it to be one of the most intense episodes in the tracklist.
Now a 'classic' group, equal only to itself, with a discography of dizzying quality behind it and an inventiveness that is still far from running out. Even “Hin Helga Kvöl” will end up being listened to repeatedly, and you will end up getting lost in it, happy to stay there.