(written by Islander)

The story behind Sakna’s forthcoming album De Syv Dødssynder, and the reasons why it is both the first and last album by this Canadian project, are fascinating (maybe even jaw-dropping, given the quality of the music) but also deeply sad. We should begin with that story.

As we’ve been told, Sakna is the solo work of Canadian multi-instrumentalist Solemn, a work that began in 2006, when Solemn was only 14 years old, as a musical adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy. By the age of 18, he had recorded all of the album’s vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, organs, and drums himself, drawing on such varied influences as Windir, Mournful Congregation, Emperor, Wolves In The Throne Room, Cor Scorpii, and more.

In 2011, Solemn took his own life, before anything was done to release the album other than Solemn leaking an early preview single (“Del I – Helvete”) to YouTube in 2009. Continue reading »