Right now I'm listening to the epic Sólstafir, a band from Iceland who play a seemingly unique take on metal. They started out with their first album Í blóði og anda released back in 2002. It is quite an aggresive and raw record featuring plenty of stirring Black and Viking metal. And yet on this the first release they were already showing signs of the progressive instrumental elements that would dominate their later recordings
Fast forward a couple of years and we end up with Köld, the 3rd album released by this band, and argubably their breakthrough release. I wouldn't say its better than the first 2 albums, but its more cohesive than the earlier stuff. Gone are the Black Metal infulences although the guitar work is still pretty intense at times. At times angry, and at other times sad and emotional, there is plenty of variety on offer here, accompanied by the vocalist's distinctive voice.
And finally we check out one of their later releases.
This is the masterpiece Ótta. Apart from the very characteristic vocals and the distinctive guitar sound, there is very little in common with those early releases. And to be honest, we could spend hours arguing over what style of music this is (prog metal? post-hardcore? Shoe-gaze?), It doesn't really matter when the music is this good...
So there you have it. Sólstafir are one of my fave bands at the moment, and although the style changes quite a bit over the years. They are always passionate and raw and full of heart. Go check them out, you won't regret it!
The tape is their most recent album, the sublimely beautiful Berdreyminn
