“So it was with great portent that night fell upon Reginald’s Emporium of the Fine Arts, cloaking Chicago in a sickly sodium glow. Just on the edge of Chinatown, next to a bombed-out taco joint under the Green Line, brutality was brewing, summoned in darkness from the ragged edges of the Earth. And as the sun set, than the venue was assailed by… no one at all.” The abyss is a lonely place.
“Vögguvísur Yggdrasils is the fourth full-length from Iceland’s most (only?) notable Viking metal band, Skálmöld. I’ve formerly criticized this genre tag in my review of the album’s predecessor but ultimately conceded that it was a neater way of describing the number of influences at play in their energetic interpretation of Northern European mythology.” Let your blood eagle fly.
“Hailing from the Kópavogur area of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, Zhrine rose from the deathly remains of Gone Postal. Somewhere between taking top spot in the 2012 Wacken Metal Battle and and today, the voices behind Gone Postal noticed their sound growing darker, becoming more atmospheric and permeated with despair.” Iceland keeps the fires burning still.
“I’m inclined to jump at the opportunity to review any music that surfaces out of the Icelandic metal scene. Their strong talent, adventurous spirit, desire to cross or mix genres and their overall quirkiness usually makes for an exciting listen. That was my expectation with Naðra.” Feel the Icelandic burn!
“There aren’t many contexts wherein ‘Icelandic’ forms part of a natural phrase to an outsider such as myself. If I think ‘American…’ I complete the phrase with ‘Horror Story,’ ‘Hustle’ or ‘Heartbeat,’ among numerous other affiliated terms. There are but two completions which spring to mind after ‘Icelandic’ for me: ‘beer’ and ‘metal.’ I therefore understandably privilege the overachieving country and am here to impart on you the knowledge of yet more exemplary cultural output.” Everybody move to Iceland and drink lots of beer, everybody move to Iceland right now!
“The Kontinuum… continues! Not to be confused with the tech death band Continuum reviewed here by Dr. A.N. Grier earlier in the week, Kontinuum are an Icelandic band that plays a multifarious blend of dreamwave and post-rock/metal with some inviting and interesting gothic undertones.” Is Iceland becoming the next Finland?
“When it comes to selecting albums to review, I rely on a tried-and-mostly-tr00 method of meticulous selection that’s been proven to garner conversations around water bubblers and soda machines the world over: I sometimes randomly just pick shit from a list and think, “Okay, that’s cool. Let’s give that a shot.” Behold, today’s selection is Iceland’s Dynfari.” In the game of chance, you win some and you lose some. Are the odds in Grymm’s favor this time around?
“Iceland’s Momentum is a bizarre beast. Aside from having a name and logo more suitable for a caffeine-packed energy drink than a metal band, they’ve undergone quite a few changes in style since their debut demo.” With many style shifts under their belt, they did it again here. Tricky stuff.
“I dislike ‘Viking metal’ as a descriptor. It’s a vague term which alludes to lyrical content above the music itself. It can entail black or folk metal-derived darkness (Bathory), epic doom (Atlantean Kodex), raucous melodeath (Amon Amarth), and even power metal (Týr). Iceland’s Skálmöld falls somewhere between Amon Amarth’s melodeath and the galloping triple-axe attack of Iron Maiden, stopping off at black metal for its raw tone and dabbling in doom for its long songs. See, wasn’t that easier than just ‘Viking metal’?” It is easier, but then Wotan will smite us.
“Ótta consists of 8 tracks, beginning with a representation of midnight, moving through each Eyktir in the day, coming to a steady close at what would be representative of between 9 pm and midnight. Hardly a riveting concept I grant you, but thought provoking nonetheless.” Usually it takes lots of SepticFlesh and blood to make Madam X swoon, but Sólstafir’s blend of heathenish melodic, melancholic post-metal and bizarre alternative rock seems to have done the trick in a big way!
