Hin helga kvöl - November 8th, 2024
Hin helga kvöl (The Holy Suffering) is an evocative and profound exploration of raw emotion and crushingly stark beauty, drawing deep inspiration from the band's cultural heritage and the jaw dropping landscapes of their homeland.
SÓLSTAFIR, meaning "crepuscular rays" in Icelandic, refers to those piercing rays of sunlight that break through dark clouds at dusk. This imagery perfectly captures the essence of Hin helga kvöl, a beacon of light and hope shining through the heaviest of times. As the band confronts their inner demons, shrugging off the trappings of Rock and Roll decadence, their music resonates with the universal struggle and triumph over hardship. Hin helga kvöl is the holy war that we all face within. A monumental and highly ambitious work, Hin helga kvöl is not just a new apex within SÓLSTAFIR’s own back-catalogue, but it is an album which hacks open the borders of wide-screen Rock to undiscovered territory. Masters at work, with a wealth of experience, using their rich past to take their songs to groundbreaking peaks, Hin helga kvöl is SÓLSTAFIR at their most agile and graceful.
Hin helga kvöl was laid down at Flóki Studios in Haganesvík, Skagafjörður, Iceland. This change of scenery marks a significant departure from SÓLSTAFIR’s long-time recording home at Sundlaugin Studio, a shift that has very clearly and profoundly influenced the album's atmosphere and headspace. Lead vocalist and guitarist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason shares:
"We wanted something different, so we went to a beautiful studio in a very remote place up in Skagafjörður. Just being there, the four of us with our good friend Jói as a producer, really did the trick."
The magic formula of this isolated new backdrop sets the scene for Hin helga kvöl, where SÓLSTAFIR found a new route to get to the summit. The amalgamation of grandiosity and viscera within Hin helga kvöl’s 8 tracks takes the listener on an expedition through ragged wind-beaten cliffs and dust strewn deserted plains. We’ve all seen these images in tourist photos of Iceland, but SÓLSTAFIR makes us live it, and Hin helga kvöl is this landscapes’ primal scream.
Reflecting on the album's title, which translates to "The Holy Suffering," Tryggvason explains:
"I overheard this in conversation. People talking about the holy suffering in life. We all suffer in life, and even nature suffers. It can be found in religion and spirituality as well, of course. Hin helga kvöl would be Thy Holy Suffering."
Hin helga kvöl blends SÓLSTAFIR's signature melancholic sound with elements from their past, creating an album that is both reflective and innovative, not only in scope but in song-craft. On their next level of pushing their song-writing to the limit, Tryggvason elaborates:
"It always feels like you walk into a blackened room with paint and start painting, then after a while you turn the lights on. One thing we did try this time around was to make songs shorter. It's somewhat harder to write good short songs, so that was a real challenge."
Hin helga kvöl runs the gamut between SÓLSTAFIR’s Black Metal roots and their penchant for tuneful, anthemic rock, all while maintaining sprawling instrumentation where it counts most. From guests, Borgar Magnason’s double bass soundscapes on "Freygátan" to Jens Hanson’s saxophone and haunting female vocals by Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir on "Vor ás", SÓLSTAFIR expertly twists and contorts through a range of styles and eclectic elements, but all woven within their Icelandic tundra expanse. It is Tryggvason's voice that brings Hin helga kvöl’s message, tortured vitality and dramatic earnestness to the forefront. The signature orchestration of SÓLSTAFIR’s innate riff, tone and rhythm balances lush production and stripped-back vigor, with exhilarating time signature changes. At the heart of Hin helga kvöl are the heartfelt and electrifying personal performances of the band that highlight SÓLSTAFIR’s ability to merge genres seamlessly into something unheard of.
The stunning eloquence in cover artist Rowan E Cassidy’s charcoal shadows perfectly illustrates the substrate ravines and breath-taking altitudes that Hin helga kvöl’s songs submit us to.
When asked to describe the music on Hin helga kvöl, Tryggvason simply replies with one word: “alone”.
Alone is a perfectly succinct word for SÓLSTAFIR’s ardently unfiltered music where we discover ourselves, with a new found reverence for solitary reflection. This is Hin helga kvöl, the holy struggle for overcoming adversity in life.
SÓLSTAFIR’s music, shaped by a diverse array of influences from black metal to classic rock, post-rock to punk, and the stark beauty of Icelandic nature, crafts a sound that is uniquely their own. This November, let that undiluted haunting beauty and spiritual raw power of Hin helga kvöl run free in your mind.
SÓLSTAFIR's missionary journey is a testament to their unwavering commitment to musical exploration and emotional honesty, and it feels that they are just getting started with renewed zeal. Hin helga kvöl is a bright shining milestone in SÓLSTAFIR’s already illustrious starlit career. Captivating and resonating with faith in that glimmer of sunlight through the clouds, SÓLSTAFIR illuminates the necessary path from darkness to light. Suffering has never felt this enlightening. We all need some Hin helga kvöl in our lives.
(by Mat McNerney)
Music and lyrics by SÓLSTAFIR.
Line-Up:
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason: Guitar, vocals
Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson: Guitar
Svavar Austmann: Bass
Hallgrímur Jón Hallgrímsson: Drums, backing vocals
SÓLSTAFIR ”Hin helga kvöl” track listing:
1. Hún andar 05:29
2. Hin helga kvöl 05:42
3. Blakkrakki 04:32
4. Sálumessa 07:11
5. Vor ás 05:45
6. Freygátan 04:06
7. Grýla 05:06
8. Nú mun ljósið deyja 03:47
9. Kuml (forspil, sálmur, kveðja) 06:44
Recorded in Flóki Studios, Haganesvík, Skagafjörður, Iceland, May 2023.
Produced by Aðalbjörn Tryggvason and Jóhann Rúnar Þorgeirsson.
Engineered by Jóhann Rúnar Þorgeirsson.
Mixed by Fredrik Reinedahl in Sonic Train Studios, January 2024.
Additional recordings in Sundlaugin, Mosfellsbær, January 2024,
engineered by Úlfur Hansen.
Mastering by Sigurdór Guðmundsson at Skonrokk Mastering.
Piano by Halldór Á. Björnsson.
Double bass soundscape in Freygátan by Borgar Magnason.
Saxophone by Jens Hanson.
Guest vocals in Kuml by Sigurjón Kjartansson
Backing vocals in Kuml by Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson.
Female vocals in Vor Ás by Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir.
Album cover artwork by Rowan E Cassidy.
Layout by Arnar Geir Ómarsson.
