Norrøn livskunst

Solefald is sort of a strange case for me. After being blown away by their debut, The Linear Scaffold, which I found to be an extremely original piece of unorthodox and somehow wacky black metal, they where neglected by me for a long time. I just listened to a few songs here and there of some of their other albums and that’s it. I can’t explain why; they just fell under my radar for no apparent reason. Until Nørron Livskunst came out. It was love at first listening. I was immediately hooked, starting with the sophisticated album cover, which initially led me to believe that they had embraced a more streamlined viking metal sound. Not quite, since there are a lot of varied influences here, blended to create a magnificent piece of Nordic metal of the highest quality, an elegant grand design true to what the Scandinavian people are known to be able to create.

I’ve never been to Norway (some day I will). I’ve been to Sweden though, and as a Mexican, I can tell you I was amazed by the huge contrasts between our cultures and societies. And something that I didn’t expect at all was to find such hospitality, humility and candor. In conclusion, I didn’t find most Swedes to be cold at all, as they’re often thought of. I imagine it’s similar with the Norwegian, though don’t mean to insult anybody with the comparison nor ignorantly imply that they’re exactly the same. But this album is a proof of that northern warmness. I mean, this is still (avant-garde) black metal, though the music here reminds me of a not-so-known face of the Norsemen in the metal music context; that of a colorful and sophisticated folk. This is not grim and frostbitten, doesn’t feel dead and cold, nor savage, isolated and unreachable as some black metal act’s music. This record is brimming with life, intelligence, absurdity and humor, despite being aggressive and melancholic at times. And that makes it extremely original and unique.

Now, since there’s really A LOT of variation to be found here, I must delve into song description. This is the sort of album where each song has very distinctive features and all of them together create an outstanding whole. Almost every song here is a masterpiece of its own, thus the quality of this album is impeccable, starting with “Song Til Stormen” an Olav Håkonson Hauge’s poem transformed into an enormously magnificent epic ballad by the capable lungs and amazing pipes of Lazare. It just overwhelmingly blew my mind the first time I listened to it. Beautiful and potent indeed, yet the album’s mood shifts 180 degrees with the title-track’s whipping riffs and blast-beats. Total black thrashing violence, though not mindless, for this is catchier than the porcine flu, and way more enjoyable. Then, “Tittentattenteksi” arrives, sounding as crazy as you imagine… probably more. An amusing extreme metal tongue twister, it features the majestic and deranged vocals of Agnete Kjølsrud, better known for collaborating in Dimmu Borgir’s latest release. Here they’re plain brilliant, an absolute highlight.

Track number four is “Stridsljod/Blackabilly”, and as it is implied, it’s an amalgamation of black metal and rockabilly, with hilarious lyrics that seem to ironically mock some aspects of the typical black metal mentality. The merging of styles is more than a success; we are not talking about a failed experiment here. It sounds strange, yet fulfilling. Then, a mild calm before the Norse storm resumes, “Eukalyptustreet” carries us with its jazzy cadence and vivid saxophone melodies, while occasionally bursting into the pagan grandeur of the opener. After this nine-minute gentle giant, the thrice as short “Raudedauden” heralds the return of the elegant punishment with its chainsaw riffs and Cornelius’ harsh barking. “Vitets Vidd I Verdi” is less caustic yet equally compelling, sailing between the past two songs waters and boasting memorable keyboards and another excellent intervention of Agnete Kjølsrud’s voice. Then we hear the least amazing track, “Hugferdi”. It’s not bad, just not as distinct or engaging as it’s peers. “Waves Over Valhalla: An Icelandic Odyssey Part III” takes us back to the glorious viking metal of past efforts, serving as the concluding piece of said works, while the calm and reassuring “Til Heimen Yver Havet” closes the album in epic fashion not unlike the first track.

The two outstanding masterminds behind this masterpiece are on top form, musically and lyrically. Cornelius abrasive vocals and sharp riffs are an exquisite counterpoint to Lazare’s mind-blowing melodic vox, precise and rampant skin-battering, and lush keyboards and orchestration. The choruses and vocal arrangements alone are reason enough to listen to this, and Cornelius even uses a calm narrating approach in some songs to great avail. Production is virtually perfect, with a crunchy buzz saw yet crystal clear tone for the guitars and organic feel for the other instruments. Moreover, all the complex layers of sound and texture can be easily indentified and enjoyed. The addition of a varied array of resources, like the vocals of Agnete Kjølsrud, the saxophone and hardanger fiddle, demonstrates the ambition of these gentlemen to create an unique soundscape, influenced by the early 20th Century Norway, an ambition I think bears its fruits. Cornelius’ lyrics continue to amaze, though sometimes they’re hard to translate, since most are written in a Norwegian dialect known as “høgnorsk”, an antecessor of today’s modern Norsk, which they occasionally intertwine with English.

Ultimately, Nørron Livskunst serves as an invitation to look past the usual aesthetics of Norwegian metal music, and explore different tones and shapes while partaking an amazing sonic voyage. Though I consider this to be one of 2010’s top releases and I bet this is probably Solefald’s best by far, its music might be a bit “too beautiful” and weird for some to fully appreciate it. Just as Cornelius himself said in an interview:

“We make intelligent music for all kinds of people. But maybe only the intelligent or the weird bear with us...”

A collaboration between two guys who have had a fair amount of impact in the modern Norwegian black metal scene, Solefald has done some great things with their style in the past, throwing nuances into the typically harsh sound of black metal that aren't normally heard. 'Norrøn Livskunst' is Solefald's seventh album, and admittedly my first legitimate experience with the band. As a newcomer to the work of the band, I had only ever heard a few songs here and there, but even though I had little preconception of what Solefald's latest would sound like, I still find myself underwhelmed. Although the band shows remarkable promise with a folk-tinged progressive black metal sound, too often do their experiments go sour, sometimes even leading the music to be unpleasant to listen to.

'Song Til Stormen' opens the album off on a remarkable, albeit deceitful note. From the first wonderfully harmonized clean vocals and anthemic build-up of the music, I was instantly reminded of fellow progressive black metal duo Vintersorg. Although the band's approach here sounds almost too similar to Andreas Hedlund's Vintersorg, I still found myself greatly enjoying it; well composed and performed viking metal. As with most disappointing albums however, the first song here is the greatest, and also the only track I would recommend someone to listen to. From here on, the rest of 'Norrøn Livskunst' is a highly inconsistent roller coaster that often crashes and burns before lifting up again.

Many of the tracks here fall into the realm of fairly average, fairly enjoyable folkish viking metal, with some great vocal harmonies and occasional dives into female singing. It is ironic that my favourite aspect of this album- the vocals- are also part of what takes 'Norrøn Livskunst' from being a generally decent album into the territory of a record I would not be able to listen through again, despite the moments of grandeur. Chief among the errors Solefald made here was the invitation to bring the vocal stylings of fellow Norwegian rockers Animal Alpha into the mix. As can be heard at its most ear-cringing, 'Tittentattentetski' features some sort of vocal work (I dare not call it singing) in which a member of Animal Alpha sounds like a child screaming for ice cream moreso than anything music-related. Unfortunately, Solefald have their own bad moments here; the 'Blackabilly' song being worst of all; in which the band gears down to some of the worst lyrics I've heard in months; "One two three, blackabilly me. Four five six, burning kicks..."

Vocals aside, there is nothing to complain about, nor praise. Despite a few moments where Solefald cleverly incorporates some scarce jazzy saxphone phrases, things are kept fairly tame, and anyone who has heard some of the more modern melodic black metal from Norway should know what to expect; fast strumming of chords, tremolo picking and the occasional folkish moment. I cannot say 'Norrøn Livskunst' has impressed me by any measure regardless. The band is certainly capable, but due to a generally derivative sound and the fact that bands like Vintersorg have done this much better, Solefald does not sit well with me with this first impression.

My first introduction to the avant-garde Viking metal band Solefald was in their double-concept albums going by the name An Icelandic Odyssey. There were a few songs on those albums that completely blew me away, but mostly they were just headscratchers. (Do I really need to hear somebody literally just reading a poem in a tongue I don't know?) But their seventh full-length, Norrøn Livskunst, came highly recommended by anyone who'd heard it, i.e., those who didn't write the band off after their last two albums.

After hearing it, I understand exactly why it was recommended. The album has everything I ever want in music: catchy riffs and vocal hooks, great atmosphere, and well-executed experimentation. Usually, you have to pick one of the three, but not so here, and it's all packaged together into a cohesive whole deserving of being called a true album.

The music is at its base Viking metal, very close to the black metal end of the spectrum. The vocals are both clean and rasped, with mostly Norwegian lyrics, and synths as well as other instruments add drama. A track-by-track analysis seems appropriate here, given that the whole thing tells a story (musically at least, if not lyrically). Opener "Song Til Stormen" is slow, dramatic, and emotional, with the ICS Vortex-like clean vocals providing extremely memorable melody. The song sets the stage before the title track cuts in with fast black metal, mixing rasps and clean vocals and allowing synths to substitute for bass in part. Following that is "Tittentattenteksti", which includes female guest vocals in a variety of styles, from beautiful clean singing, to a snarky voice that makes me think J-punk (if there is such a thing), to some almost Jonathan Davis-like scatting. Then "Blackabilly / Stridsljod" is exactly what the title implies, suggesting an entirely new genre that I want to hear. The 9+ minute centerpiece "Eukalyptustreet" brings things down a notch, relying on understated drums and synths, whispers and clean vocals for over 5 minutes before the guitars even come in, and even then it's an understated beauty of a song which allows saxophone and piano to take the forefront. "Raudedauden" and "Vitets Vidd I Verdi" are in large part Immortal-esque but with unmistakable Solefald layered on top (and check out the vocal hooks in the latter). "Hugferdi" has a wah-wah solo perfectly out of left field (even in this album). Finally, "Waves over Valhalla" serves as the dramatic climax to the story before the denoument of "Til Heimen Yver Havet".

It's all built on a solid viking metal core with a cohesive style, but each and every song has something unusual it brings to the table. And they all have a memorable riff or melody, or a number of both, to draw you in and keep you coming back.

The Verdict: If I had heard this album last year, it would have made my top albums of the year. It is astoundingly good, and has everything I look for in music. A career-crowning achievement.

originally written for http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/

After an unusual and unexpected swerve into familiar, mythological territory with their pair of Icelandic Odyssey albums, Solefald use their 7th full length Norrøn Livskunst to return to the wilder waters we've often associated them with in the past, leaving a single track ("Waves Over Valhalla") to wrap up a sort of pseudo-trilogy. Those cultural excursions were not unwelcome, and the band still managed to slap their trademark brand of uncanny surrealism to the tales, but this feels a lot more like a natural progression from past works like Neonism, Pills Against the Ageless Ills and In Harmonia Universali, all of which more dutifully represented the straight-jacketed writing of Cornelius and Lazare, one of Norway's more irresistible but bizarre duos waltzing on the outskirts of the extreme metal classification. This is still a concept album, but it motions forward into the culture of the country's transition from the 19th to 20th centuries.

Norrøn Livskunst translates into something like 'Norse Life Art', which is perhaps the only broad strokes one could use to paint the structured variation found on this record, which is easily one of their best. Organ sounds are threaded throughout the compositions, and horns and guitars clash amidst the revelry of the melodic undertow, but by far the star of the show here would be the vocal arrangements, which are simply the most insane and superior of the band's career thus far. Tracks like "Norrøn Livskunst", "Song Til Stormen" and "Til Heimen Yver Havet" mix the morose, multi tiered choirs with the barking excess so common to the genre, and though the riffs stream below like glorious swells of storm, it is the vocals which sail off so deeply into your conscience, making this a memorable trip into the cultural past and present the band is exploring. All are performed to perfection here, and they really give you a sense of not only the band's place in the world, but the madness of artisans beyond devoted to their craft.

This IS a Solefald record, of course, and you should still expect anomalies to bludgeon you out of left field, the madness made ultimately manifest. No better example here than the playful, phonetic "Tittentattenteksti", an unforgettable piece which makes fantastic use of guest vocals courtesy of Agnete Kjolsrud, who sounds here like a mischievous teen witch dancing on your bones and trampling your dreams while she cycles through 'at' sounds along the simple and thick, melodious guitar lines, while the male vocals bark behind them. This would already be enough to make black metal purists panic and everyone else gargle with joy or terror, but add to this one of the most beautiful, layered chorus segments and a few industrial touches for what must be one of the most memorable individual songs I've heard all year, despite lyrical lines like 'wid a slit way up de butt' and 'dat is wot a rat shud get'. So unbelievably cool, it delivers me shivers every time I brave it.

Other standouts here include "Eukalyptustreet", a steadily climbing, 9+ minute piece which transforms from a tonal vocal poem to an urban saxophone solo that heralds in a series of disturbed, whispering patterns, only to erupt into choral glories and chugging metallic force. "Raudedauden" rips along with dense, thrashing force and soaring, ICS Vortex styled vocals, while "Stridsljod/Blackabilly" is a giddy Gothic/black crusher based around a strange murder mystery novel that Cornelius had written. "Waves Over Valhalla" continues the Viking prog saga the band thoroughly engaged on their previous two albums, and it's got more of the stunning vocal arrangements that make this record such a winner. "Vitets Vidd I Verdi" is another of the strange, driving pieces, escalating through bustling synthesizers and more of the beautiful femme vocals used in the chorus of "Tittentattenteksti", and "Hugferdi" follows a similar theme.

When you woke up today, did you feel a driving need to listen to something different? Well, Norrøn Livskunst certainly fulfills that desire, recorded in stunning studio polish with a number of songs I will not soon forget. If you fear the liberal implementation of diverse, yet refined elements into your black metal, a genre which Solefald is only distantly rooted, then it's highly likely you've never enjoyed a single record this band has ever recorded, and I doubt this will change your mind. On the other hand, fans of Ulver, Borknagar, Peccatum, Ihsahn and earlier Solefald should be quite thrilled to experience this, because it faithfully and fearlessly fords the fjords of expression like a cannon manning, crackpot admiral so stuffed with soma and regret that he has no choice but to sail to his own, beautiful suicide. Weird doesn't always have to be this good. But this time, it's more than good.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Truly this is Norse Life Art.

If I had to review this album in one sentence, it'd go something like this:
A return to the Linear Neonism Against the Timeless Harmonia

Luckily I can and will go into further detail, but that tagline right there serves as a considerably effective introduction to the following.

After listening to the Icelandic saga and loving it, and after checking out this album's cover art and some track names, I expected this to be a continuation of sorts of that aesthetic. Now, some parts are in fact a continuation (specifically Waves Over Valhalla (An Icelandic Odyssey Part 3) with its explicit title), but the Epic as fuck style of the saga has been mostly stripped, save the odd folky parts, the mini-epic Eukalyptustreet (which is a highlight on itself, a mainly chill song with some amazingly touching moments, like the very solemn, quasi Siberian choir on the second half), and Vitets Vidd I Verdi, which holds some of the most emotional vocal parts in the whole album, as well as baroque and catchy melodies along with some energetic and erratic moments.

So what does this album bring to the table? Amazing adventures of an eccentric nature, that's what. There's a lot to explore in this vast soundscape. Every song presents a new and exciting aspect to the music, and every song has its own, distinctive personality. Overall the style brings the listener back to this band's earlier albums, showcasing the harsh avant garde black metal and quirky sense of humour/satire this band is well known for, all mixed up with the advanced sound techniques, compositions and quality achieved in their latter works. The guitar sound itself is just gorgeous and a vast improvement from their earlier albums, and so is the mix. Keyboards, I feel, serve as a musical stream through which most melodies drift, which reminds me strongly of The Linear Scaffold. Drumming has evolved over the years, becoming more and more varied as if the kit gained one extra tom or hi-hat with every song. Bass is a bit low in the mix, although it gets its moments in the spotlight. It's quite crunchy although not exactly distorted.

There's a very bast collection of rhythms, dynamics and styles to be found in this album. Styles which go from rocky, happy metal passages to soft-jazzy bits, saxophone, corny piano and porn-like drumming included (which is a good thing in this context). Harmony is given a very special role in the album, mainly in the vocal department. Multiple layers of vocals aren't exactly new to this band, yet they reach a climax in this album. Song Til Stormen being probably the most wonderful example.

And then are some extremely funny and bizarre moments, mainly in the form of Tittentattenteksti and Stridsljod / Blackabilly, with music and lyrics that at times make the listener doubt the band's sanity and seriousness. The extra female(?) harshy vocals only add to this (although I do believe some of those vocals to be Cornelius himself with a distorted voice). So in the end the band is weirder than ever in their delivery and concept, and that's saying something. As mentioned, sense of humour is back, as are themes of existentialism and consumerism in both a modern and a retro setting, although at times I can't for the life of me decide if they're being serious or satirical. Whatever the case is, the themes and moods are delivered in a cohesive and fluent manner, making for a solid album, instead of a floppy collection of songs.

I'm not sure if this album is more accessible than previous outputs. I'm so used to weird stuff I don't know what's accessible and what's not, but I find there's a lot of catchy and even conventional elements and passages scattered over most songs (hell, there's even a wah-wah ridden solo in Hugferdi), which points to a return to the style they developed in their middle ages.

I wouldn't call this a "return to form" since arguably this band has only been improving and improving since their first album, but it's proof that what went on on the sagas was a momentary experiment to be taken as an unique work, instead of a new direction altogether. As an aside, Solefald has always been constant in their inconstancy, in a matter of speaking, so while we're never too sure as to what we could expect from them, the only thing we can expect is the unexpected. I think John Peel said it best when referring to The Fall: "Always different, always the same". And as is the case with many experimental bands, each new release is a culmination of ideas, and this album here is no different. Elements from all previous releases can be found in this album, from relentless blastbeats, tremolo riffs and desperate growls to jumpy, catchy music with comedic lyrics and even epic, folky soundscapes which speak of lore and ancient lands.

Solefald once again prove beyond any conceivable doubt that not only have they earned their spot as one of the most prominent avant garde bands in metal -and in all music- nowadays, but that they're also among the leading bands in this genre.

Norse Life Art: Post modern music is what this is.