Solefald - Black for Death: An Icelandic Odyssey Part II

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Solefald – Black for Death: An Icelandic Odyssey Part II
Season of Mist – SOM141 – November 2006
By Jason Jordan

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The prolific duo of Cornelius (Sturmgeist) and Lazare (Borknagar, Age of Silence) returns a year later with the other half of An Icelandic Odyssey, namely Black for Death. Solefald come through once again as BfD is a satisfying follow-up to Red for Fire, but not quite strong enough to overtake its predecessor.

While Solefald peaked with In Harmonia Universali, in my opinion, their work since then has been solid, yet deserving of the criticism it receives. Because Black for Death contains what can be deemed filler – essential to the lyrical story centering on Bragi the Poet and Loki the Trickster, however – it’s easy to dismiss tracks such as the instrumental jazzy interlude “Underworld,” the heavy instrumental “Dark Waves Dying,” and the string and spoken-word pieces “Lokasenna Part 2,” “Spoken to the End of All,” and “Lokasenna Part 3.” Perhaps it’s my impatience, but the above-mentioned songs just seem to slow things down when I’m in the mood for quick, energetic numbers like opener “Red for Fire + Black for Death,” “Queen in the Bay of Smoke,” and “Necrodyssey.” Others (“Silver Dwarf,” “Allfathers,” “Sagateller”) are memorable, too, due in part to the lyrics that can be remembered and chanted easily.

Though the production and musicianship are jaw-dropping – not to mention that Solefald have succeeded in tackling a 2-part concept that would take years to be fully realized – the production is too clean for my liking, which as a result removes the edge that could be heard so often in In Harmonia Universali. And, at times, Cornelius overextends himself in the vocal department, dragging the respective tune’s quality down with him. Speaking of vocals…Trickster G./Garm (Ulver, Head Control System, ex-Arcturus, ex-Borknagar) turns in a cameo performance in “Loki Trickster God,” which ranges from average to terrible – especially when he skyrockets needlessly. It’s just awkward and bad.

Overall, Black for Death: An Icelandic Odyssey Part II will not disappoint Solefald fans who’ve been eagerly awaiting the sequel to 2005’s Red for Fire. While they certainly have superior albums in their discography, Cornelius and Lazare have capitalized on their ambition once again. Still, with offerings from C’s Sturmgeist and L’s Borknagar having recently been unleashed, the market is kind of saturated with their stuff right now. Thus, the poor consumer will have to be more discerning than usual.

7.5/10

UM’s Review Rating Scale

Official Solefald Website
Official Season of Mist Website
 
Yeah, bands are so keen today to try to get that uber-clean production, which usually results in the dynamics or personality of the band being totally lost in the process.... Not sure what genre Solefald actually are, but you mentioned jazz instrumental, heavy one, and some dialogue tracks... the ideas you've mentioned sound odd enough. ;)
 
Not sure what genre Solefald actually are, but you mentioned jazz instrumental, heavy one, and some dialogue tracks... the ideas you've mentioned sound odd enough. ;)

They're difficult to pin down with only one genre label. A label like "progressive, avant-garde post-black metal" works, though, I guess.
 
Good review. Haven't heard the album yet but sounds like you have picked up the same kind of problems I found with Red for Fire. There was too much filler on Red for Fire, though I guess that wasn't really a problem except that it needed a few more solid tracks to balance things out. Cornelius' vocals were the weakest aspect of Red for Fire too - that croaky rasp doesn't really do it for me and I wish he would return to the style from In Harmonia Universali.

Maybe they would have been better making one masterpiece instead of two good but flawed albums.

But I could happily listen to 'Sun I Call' all day