Solstafir

Clouds – Dor Review

Clouds – Dor Review

“Life is pain. The human condition is one of brief, fleeting moments of joy hemmed in on all sides by the ever-present specter of death and loss. The loss of loved ones, the loss of safety and comfort as your aging body fails and falls to ruin, and ultimately, the frigid closure of death. Clouds writes every note of their music from this cold place at the edge of mortality, with the debilitating awareness of the darkness that hovers just past our tomorrows.” Cold, hard truths.

Vreid – Lifehunger Review

Vreid – Lifehunger Review

“It was June 2006 and I was helping a friend move into a downtown apartment. It was hot and we were scrambling up and down two flights of stairs as fast as possible before a cop could ticket us for taking up half-a-lane of traffic with our truck. When it was finally over, we grabbed lunch and went to my favorite record store down the street. This place had the strangest collection of albums I’d ever seen and a surprisingly large metal section for a town full of hippies and reggae fans. The album I selected that day was something I had heard many things about. From a band that rose from the ashes of Windir.” Vreid it and weep.

Manes – Slow Motion Death Sequence Review

Manes – Slow Motion Death Sequence Review

“The first time I heard the Norwegian oddity known as Manes, I was in grad school. That fateful day, I was grading organic chemistry exams, locked away in that windowless closet of a grading room. With hours of work ahead of me, I took the time to find some new music to ease the pain. After getting caught in the rabbit’s hole of ‘similar artists’ and the ‘who-played-with-who’ links of Metal Archives, I emerged with Manes. And, I figured, this oughta do.” Music for destroying futures.

Skogen – Skuggorna Kallar Review

Skogen – Skuggorna Kallar Review

Skuggorna Kallar follows the dying of the light on a Nordic eve. Darkness encroaches and envelops as light fades. Previously, Skogen had crafted airier atmospheric and pagan epics. Earlier albums, especially their magisterial second platter Svitjod (one of my favorites in this subgenre), carry a lofty melodic sheen. The crunching mid-paced riff-craft of their debut was present but filtered in lighter dosages. Four years later and Skuggorna Keller — their fifth album — comes knocking at our door, draped in ash and frost. This is Skogen’s darkest record yet.” Darkness and blackness.

Madam X’s Least Disliked Five(ish) of 2017

Madam X’s Least Disliked Five(ish) of 2017

“And with a mighty cold flourish, twenty-seventeen makes her exit! While it’s not been a bad year by any means, it has been a more demanding year than I expected, with fewer opportunity for music listening and writing. Regulars to AMG may have noticed, going back a few months now, that I’ve pretty much been absent from the Reviews section of the site.” Come back or your creepy doll collection meets Mr. Shreddy.

Auðn – Farvegir Fyrndar Review

Auðn – Farvegir Fyrndar Review

“Hveragerði’s Auðn constructed themselves a respectable following with their self-titled debut back in 2014, blending bits of Primordial’s folkier approach to their music. With Farvegir Fyrndar, the five-piece aims to broaden their scope, simultaneously crafting a denser atmosphere while retaining their ferocity when the situation demands.” Black Ice(land) strikes again.

Grift – Arvet Review

Grift – Arvet Review

“It’s the music that sends me careening through a canyon as dark as a Nick Cave soundtrack and as unique as a Sólstafir record. It has a suffocating mixture of Shining-like desperate, voice-throwing screams and cleans moodier than your grandma’s sanitarium. Coming off 2013’s Burzum-esque EP, I hoped Gärdefors would push on. I hoped for his refusal to revert back to the generic sounds of Fyra elegier. I hoped for more Syner. Well, my hopes became reality. And that reality is Arvet.” (TGIDF) Thank God It’s Depressive Friday.

Ophiuchi – Bifurcaria Bifurcata Review

Ophiuchi – Bifurcaria Bifurcata Review

“I’m about as fluent in South African metal bands as I am in French. And that’s a goddamn shame (the SA band thing, not the French thing). But, even for my limited knowledge of SA scene, I’m happy to say I spend a lot of time with a couple of good ones (Vulvodynia and Wildernessking). So, when I received a promo from a little known South African outfit (from our own SA native, Madam X), I was more than a little excited. Especially when I hit ‘play.'” This springbok has sharp horns ov iron.