Icelandic post-metal titans Sólstafir need little introduction but we at AMG Towers are fans of formulaic, masturbatory prose, so I’ll provide one anyway. Sólstafir is Icelandic for ‘radiating sun beams,’ something I have always thought to be wildly inaccurate as a name for this entity, which at no point embodies sunshine. In their early days, Sólstafir played raw, aggressive black metal, interspersed with hints of Viking metal and occasional atmospheric passages (see the debut, Í blóði og anda). Since then, with each release, Sólstafir have evolved, peaking, many would argue, on their fifth full-length, 2014’s Ótta. Building on the subtleties and beautiful moods of its predecessor, Svartir Sandar, Ótta was the recipient of a very rare 5.0/5.0, and from none other than Madam X herself, who described it as a “work of art.” 2017’s Berdreyminn got a somewhat more muted reception, however, at least in part down to some serious production issues. It’s fair to say that I liked the hard-rockin’ stylings of Berdreyminn a little more than Madam X, and Ótta a little – though only a tiny smidge – less than her. So, where on this spectrum of good to iconic does Sólstafir’s latest outing, Endless Twilight of Co-Dependent Love, find itself?
The gorgeous cover art1 belies the dark and heavy subject matters that Endless Twilight addresses. Like much of Sólstafir’s catalogue, the record is delivered – bar one song – in their native Icelandic. Taking as its central theme the mental health issues that plague so many people in today’s world, the record is drenched in misery and pain. Its sole English language track, “Her Fall from Grace,” is the harrowing tale of watching a loved one succumb to mental illness. Despite its traumatic themes, however, Endless Twilight shares more DNA, musically speaking, with the upbeat Berdreyminn than it does with Ótta.
From the blues-adjacent opening of the album on “Akkeri,” through the distorted guitar melodies of post-metal epic “Drýsill” to the road-trippin’ chug of “Dionysis,” Sólstafir subtly modulate the tone throughout Endless Twilight. Incorporating elements of the grungy rock of Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness – yes, the similarities run deeper than the cover – and Witchcraft or Graveyard, and the post-metal of Pelican, Endless Twilight draws on influences far and wide, while remaining unmistakably and unquestionably Sólstafir. Tryggvason’s love-em-or-hate-em vocals remain key to this and here we find an urgency to his performance not heard before. Even in slower numbers, like “Til Moldar” and the massive, and haunting closer “Úlfur,”2, Tryggvason brings to life the pain and hurt he is singing about, lending everything he does a sense of tortured vitality.
Endless Twilight feels like Sólstafir looked back at Berdreyminn and thought ‘yeah, that was good but we should have taken a few more risks.’ And so they did. Even as atmospheric electronics beautifully complement the band’s fuzzed guitar tones and upbeat, rock drumming on tracks like “Akkeri,” the mesmeric and beautiful melodic leads of “Drýsill” and “Úlfur” seeped into my brain like tendrils of ice. So far, so wonderfully good. Endless Twilight is not without its challenges, however. First, even ignoring the two bonus tracks that accompanied my review version, this is a long record, comfortably clearing the hour mark and, although there is much to love, it does feel long, with tracks like “Rökkur” contributing little to my experience. This is not helped by the vocals, which I found challenging in two respects. First, the mix puts Tryggvason so front and center – and so loud – that at times I found it off-putting, despite largely being a fan of his coarse, borderline discordant, crooning. Secondly, it bothered me more than ever before that I do not speak Icelandic and, therefore, cannot connect with the tortured messages being belted out. I do, of course, recognize that it is not Sólstafir’s fault I don’t speak Icelandic, nor am I advocating they switch to English, but the prominence given to the vocals really emphasized for me how much I was missing out on with Endless Twilight.
If, like Madam X, you thought Ótta was a perfect record, then you will have issues with Endless Twilight, particularly in its slightly soft middle and the, at times jarring, vocals. For those who enjoyed Berdreyminn but, like me, wished there was just a little bit more of the organic rawness of Svartir Sandar to it, well, Sólstafir listened. Endless Twilight of Co-Dependent Love is not without its faults but is, at its core, an emotive, well-written record, featuring some truly stunning moments like “Drýsill” and “Úlfur,” which suffers slightly under its own weight.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Season of Mist
Websites: solstafir.bandcamp.com | solstafir.net | facebook.com/solstafirice
Releases Worldwide: November 6th, 2020
