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Band Name: Solefald
Album Name: Red For Fire: An Icelandic Odyssey, Pt. 1
Rating: 4 / 5 User Rating: 4 / 5
Label: Season of Mist Records
Buy Album: Amazon.com
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Tracklist
1. Sun I Call
2. Survival of the Outlaw
3. Where Birds Have Never Been
4. Bragi [Instrumental]
5. White Frost Queen
6. There Is Need
7. Prayer of a Son (Poem)
8. Crater of the Valkyries
9. Sea I Called
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SOLEFALD is part of the new wave of avant-garde bands coming out of Norway. On 'RED FOR FIRE: An Icelandic Odyssey Part I' these Norsemen and women exploit many different style of music and instruments, operating in a similar fashion to fellow countrymen ARCTURUS, IN THE WOODS, and VED BUENS ENDE.
Most fans of this scene probably already know Lazare also plays drums in BORKNAGAR. That being said, fans of BORKNAGAR may be thrilled to know that SOLEFALD's 'RED FOR FIRE…' sails upon many of the same harsh, freezing waters that BORKNAGAR travels on. Those similarities exist with the Lazare's clean vocals, atmospheric keyboard passages, pagan Norse lyrical concepts, and a passion for the progressive.
This 'Icelandic Odyssey' begins its epic tale with a mellow saxophone on 'Sun I Call.' Keyboards and minimal drum beats mildly climb into the mix like shadows slowly stealing away the sun's rays. Angelic female vocals dueled with throaty, semi-black metal vocals combined with the melancholy tones of the saxophone create a sense of yearning. This opening musical scene retains the essence of Homer's 'The Odyssey' where the story begins with Odysseus yearning for his homeland after the Trojan wars. Possibly a Viking has sailed to an Asiatic shore and yearns for the fjords and coniferous forests of his homeland. Whatever the case is, the album's story begins in true picturesque fashion.
Just like a classic story, the action rises and falls. 'Sun I call' picks up the pace with thick riffs and double bass, although with a medium pace, heavy groove and no blasting barrages. The next song 'survival of the outlaw' has a much darker tone with Cornelius' lupine voices and dangerous axe-grinding along with Lazare's impressive cymbal work. Double-layered clean vocals break up the metallic dirge. Fans of Vintersorg's and ICS Vortex's clean vocal work are bound to take pleasure in Lazare's vocals. Add Garm (ULVER, ex-ARCTURUS, ex-BORKNAGAR) and you have a prolific, Norwegian metal choir. These vocals fit so well on this album, considering its pagan theme.
This album's gleaming quality is surely with the vocal work. 'White Frost Queen' features female vocals that shine like the sun's reflection off ice-cycled limbs and boughs. The violin parts accentuate this guest vocalist's mystical, enchanting serenade. 'White Frost Queen' is truly a pagan musical masterpiece.
'RED FOR FIRE' is, as the title says, an Icelandic Odyssey. The listener will encounter venomous tongues, alluring siren songs, violins to lull your troubled head to sleep, avalanche-causing double bass, and many other visual sounds on this musical epic. This album is for those who like to dream!
Review by: Darren Cowan
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