WATCH SÓLSTAFIR’S NEW VIDEO: “ÆRA”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Apr 282013
 

It’s nice to have an excuse to put Kim Holm’s artwork on our site again. Up above is the piece he created for the song “Æra”, which appeared on the magnificent 2011 album by Iceland’s Sólstafir, Svartir Sandar. “Æra” is on my mind because Sólstafir have just released an official video for that song. It’s a live performance at the 2012 Eistnaflug Festival in Iceland using footage shot by about a dozen camera wielders.

I’ve loved this song from the first time I heard it. The beat, the riffs, the vocals . . . all good. Always thought the hammering parts of the song would be a sure-fire mosh trigger, and it’s nice to see it happening in this video.

I really, really need to see this band on stage, someday, some way. The video is after the jump. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SÓLSTAFIR’S GUÐMUNDUR ÓLI PÁLMASON

 Interviews  11 Responses »
Dec 032012
 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Seattle-based writer and NCS reader Gemma Alexander journeyed to Iceland in late October to see the country, and she timed her visit to coincide with the Iceland Airwaves festival, which included over 420 bands playing all over Reykjavík for five days, plus 400 more unofficial, off-venue performances.

While in Iceland, Gemma generously arranged to conduct interviews of some Icelandic bands for NCS. So far, we’ve posted  her interview of Angist, her interview of Beneath, and her interview of Kontinuum. Today we’re publishing Gemma’s interview of Guðmundur Óli Pálmason, the drummer of what is today probably Iceland’s best known metal band, and a huge NCS favorite: Sólstafir.

The interview is accompanied by Gemma’s photos of Sólstafir on stage at the Harpa concert hall as well as photos she took at the performance they gave at the KEX Hostel — a show that Gemma said changed her life. You’ll also find some truly amazing videos of the KEX Hostel performance at the end of this interview.

And if you haven’t yet checked out Gemma’s blog about her entire Icelandic vacation, do that via this link. You’ll be glad you did.

********

Sólstafir are a band who need no introduction to readers of No Clean Singing. At last count, this web site had written about the band a full dozen times. It is with great pleasure that I am able to add this interview with Sólstafir drummer Guðmundur Óli Pálmason. Guðmundur gave me a good chunk of his afternoon just hours before sharing a stage with Skálmöld and HAM at the largest heavy metal show ever hosted by the Iceland Airwaves festival. After wandering downtown Reykjavík in search of a place to sit that wasn’t blasting live music, we finally settled in a café for a meaty discussion of Sólstafir’s music, with a side of politics and Eistnaflug. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ANGIST

 Interviews  6 Responses »
Nov 122012
 

Angist: Halli (bass), Edda (vocals/guitar), Gyða (guitar), Tumi (drums); photo by Jose Carlos Santos

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sometimes great things happen to you when you least expect or deserve it.  Case in point: We have become acquainted over the ether with a Seattle-based writer and NCS reader named Gemma Alexander, who happens to be a fan and student of all things Icelandic. After months of planning, Gemma journeyed to Iceland in late October to see the country, and she timed her visit to coincide with the Iceland Airwaves festival, which includes over 420 bands playing all over Reykjavík for five days, plus 400 more unofficial, off-venue performances.

Though Airwaves may be best known as an indie pop fest, it also includes performances by an impressive array of Icelandic metal bands. Knowing of NCS’ own appreciation for Icelandic metal and the attention we’ve paid to Icelandic bands this year, Gemma offered to arrange interviews with several of them, and today we’re privileged to give you the first of those — Gemma’s interview of three of the four members of Angist, a very talented band we’ve featured previously at this site.

Gemma has also been blogging about her entire Icelandic vacation — which is still in progress. I’ve been reading her travelogue on a daily basis since it began, and it’s immensely entertaining. Not only is the subject matter fascinating, but Gemma is a superb writer. Do yourself a favor and check it out HERE. And now, here’s Gemma’s interview with Angist — with music at the end.

********

NCS has talked about Angist before, when we were impressed by their EP, Circle of Suffering. Theirs is an impure take on death metal, featuring precision drumming from Ophidian I’s Tumi Snær Gíslason, and vocals that alternate between brutal growls and a banshee black metal shriek. Gyða Hrund Þorvaldsdóttir, and siblings Edda Tegeder Óskarsdóttir and Haraldur (Halli) Ingi Shoshan met me before the rúntur on the Friday before the Iceland Airwaves festival at Reykjavík’s Irish pub, Celtic Cross, to talk about the band and heavy metal in Iceland. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: VASTUM, AMBASSADOR GUN, HAM AND SKÁLMÖLD, AND FULL ALBUM STREAMS FROM WINTERFYLLETH AND BEASTWARS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Sep 082012
 

Here are a randomly noticed assortment of art, news, new music, and a video I saw and heard yesterday that I thought were well worth sharing.

VASTUM

Vastum are a Bay Area band who began under the name Corpus as a side project of vocalist Dan Butler and guitarist Kyle House from the amazing Acephalix, whose titanic 2012 album Deathless Master I reviewed here. They were eventually joined by guitarist Leila Abdul-Rauf (Hammers of Misfortune, ex-Saros), bass-player Luca Indrio from Acephalix, and drummer  Adam Perry. Their five-song debut, Carnal Law, which was originally released as a demo, made quite the splash in 2011, delivering a filthy, crusty, punk-influenced take on death metal.

Yesterday I happened to see the artwork at the top of this post. It’s one of the latest creations by the uber-talented Paolo Girardi, whose work I follow closely (and have featured at NCS many times before). When he posted it on his Facebook page, it came with this notation: “VASTUM – PATRICIDAL LUST (2012)”.

I’ve seen no other news that Vastum are planning on a new release this year, but that’s sure what Paolo Girardi’s artwork and explanatory note suggest. I really hope that’s what it means. If you’re unfamiliar with Vastum, Carnal Law can be streamed and purchased at Bandcamp (here), and you might want to give it a listen after the jump. Continue reading »

SÓLSTAFIR LIVE IN ROMANIA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 182012
 


 

Up there is quality fan-filmed video of Iceland’s Sólstafir performing “Fjara” live last night at a festival called Dark Bombastic Evening 4, in Alba Iulia, Romania.

With Motorga Catalin of Negură Bunget on panpipes.

Yeah, this is about the 1,000th time we’ve posted about this band and about the 900th time we’ve featured this song. But I’m never not in the mood for “Fjara”. That’s just the way it goes.

Enjoy the rest of your fucking day.  We’ll be back in the morning . . .

MY OLYMPICS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 272012
 

I watched some of the opening ceremonies from London. Some of it was cool, like the cascade of lights falling from those big gold rings in the sky. But I gave up not long after Mr. Bean accompanied the orchestra on the theme song from Chariots of Fire.

I decided if I was going to watch spectacle, with big throngs of people, lots of lights, and explosions of sound, I should at least watch something with good fuckin’ music going on. So I watched these instead:
 


Continue reading »

MORE HELLFEST SWEETNESS: SÓLSTAFIR LIVE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jun 192012
 

Earlier today, we posted about a series of high-quality performance videos from the French HELLFEST 2012 festival earlier this month. Iceland’s Sólstafir performed at HELLFEST, but their set isn’t included in the collection featured in that earlier post. But some blessed filmographer just uploaded a video of them anyway.

The song being performed is “Fjara”, and as persistent readers are well aware from all my previous blathering about the song, it’s one of my favorite songs ever, of all time, world without end, amen. Fortunately, this video is of high quality, both in the visuals and in the sound. Among other things, it makes the bass drum and the bass guitar sound super-FAT, but the guitars still ring like heavenly chimes.

I don’t think I’ve expressly said this before, but I think Sólstafir are just incredibly cool on stage. They just have to stand there and bob a little on a slow, powerful song like this one, and they still just look so damned cooooool, including the way Aðalbjörn Tryggvason plays his guitar while bending from the waist like a weeping willow. He’s got an amazing voice, too — love the way he moves from the melancholy crooning to the gritty blast of the chorus.

Man, I’m really coming off like a girly fanboy, aren’t I?  I’ll just shut up and direct you to the video after the jump. Continue reading »

SÓLSTAFIR: “SHE DESTROYS AGAIN”

 Metal News  5 Responses »
May 132012
 

“She Destroys Again” is a song from Sólstafir’s Köld album, which was released in February 2009 by Spikefarm Records. When the band’s official video for the song originally went up on YouTube in 2010, it was taken down, presumably because of the full frontal female nudity. Later, it was re-uploaded and has been age-restricted on YouTube since then.

I suppose in some sort of jousting match with YouTube, it has been uploaded again today without the age restriction. I’m sure that won’t last long.

It’s a cool song and a cool video, which I was reminded about by the new upload.  The video is just a montage of still photos compiled by the band’s drummer Guðmundur Óli Pálmason using Final Cut, without any digital post-processing; he says all the visual effects were manually created. It’s interesting to watch.

I’ll embed the non-restricted version after the jump.  When it eventually gets blocked, you can go HERE to see the age-restricted cut, if you’re of age. Continue reading »

INFERNO FESTIVAL 2012 – DAY 2 – AGALLOCH, TSJUDER, ABSU, SOLSTAFIR, AUTOPSY

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 122012
 

(Here’s Andy Synn’s review of performances at the second day of Oslo’s Inferno Festival. For his review of the first day’s inferno, go here.)

Day 2, and far more refreshed after a night’s proper sleep, we turned up at the venue a little before Agalloch’s set, allowing us to wander round the various stalls, tattoo showcases, and other assorted gubbins that act as an annex to the main festival. Highlights included some impressive tattoo work, a random assortment of rare/hilarious special editions (including a hugely over-priced and hugely amusing mega-box edition of the new and deplorable Morbid Angel album), and the none-more-metal selection offered by the infamous Neseblod Records stand. To top it all off we were even offered the opportunity to buy some of ICS Vortex’s old leathers. Truly the stuff legends are made of. But all these wonders were mere distractions set against the night’s impressive musical line-up.

Right from the start, Agalloch set out to reclaim and redefine the term “epic” with their tense and scintillating sound, expanding to fill the massive venue with a wall of sonic majesty, roots and branches reaching up to the heavens and penetrating deep into the loam of the earth. Cherry-picking the best tracks from The Mantle, Ashes Against The Grain, and Marrow Of The Spirit, the quartet painted the venue with sound and light, washing over the audience in tidal waves of lush, transcendent noise and focussed power – in particular, “In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion” was both utterly haunting and emotionally exhausting. Even some temporary technical problems were dealt with in an almost seamless manner, the rest of the band maintaining the pulsating heartbeat of ethereal ambience while frontman John Haughm dealt with his misbehaving guitar.

If you’ve never seen Agalloch live, I implore you to do so at any costs; they conjure an atmosphere as intense as any band I have seen (equaling, though not competing with, that of Triptykon on the previous night), but in a manner wholly unique to themselves. It’s the music of nature and nurture, layers and layers of melody and complexity that subtly, and unexpectedly, combine into something overwhelmingly heavy yet effortlessly organic. Continue reading »

AN ICELANDIC TAG TEAM: SOLSTAFIR AND DIMMA

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
Feb 292012
 

I’m going to do to you what I did to myself last night, and I hope you get the same charge out of it that I got. It will take more time than it usually takes to zip through our posts here, but even if you choose to stay with me for only part of the journey, I think it will be worthwhile. It starts with Solstafir, it continues with Dimma, and it ends with both of them, in the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a live tag-team performance by two bands.

SOLSTAFIR

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve written about Sólstafir and their brilliant two-disk 2011 album, Svartir Sandir. They’re only a borderline metal band, but the borderland they occupy is a place I go to live in my mind quite often. There’s a song that ends the second disc called “Djákninn”. It’s a jam that’s nearly 11 minutes long, and I get lost in it every time I listen.

Listening is like getting behind the wheel of a car with some muscle under the hood, starting from a standing stillness and patiently shifting through the gears as it builds speed on an a climbing open road with some curves ahead. You hear the engine begin to purr, and as the throttle opens up in stages, it begins to roar, and then you’re really cruising like there’s no tomorrow, with the wind rushing through the open windows under a blue sky with not another care in the world. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries