Sólstafir

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Sólstafir
Sólstafir in 2014
Sólstafir in 2014
General information
Genre (s) Viking metal , later psychedelic rock , alternative rock
founding 1994
Website http://www.solstafir.net/
Founding members
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason
Halldór Einarsson (until 2002)
Guðmundur Óli Pálmason (1995-2015)
Current occupation
Vocals, guitar
 Aðalbjörn Tryggvason
guitar
 Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson (since 2002)
bass
 Svavar Austman Traustason (since 2002)
Drums
 Hallgrímur Jón "Grimsi" Hallgrímsson (since 2015)

Sólstafir , Icelandic spreading itself sun rays or ray bundle is an alternative rock - band from Reykjavik in Iceland .

Band history

The band was formed in 1994 as a side project of Aðalbjörn Tryggvason and Halldór Einarsson, while they were still playing with other bands. When these bands broke up, the two joined forces in December 1994 with drummer G. Ó. Pálmason together. After about four months they began to record the first demo recording Í Norðri , which they released in June 1995, limited to 100 copies and which reminded many critics of Burzum .

In December of the same year, when they wanted to record another demo with six songs in a new style, they received an offer from the Czech label View Beyond Records, whereupon they used four of the songs for the EP Til Valhallar . The label first released 1,000 copies of the EP in August 1996 and later pressed another 500 copies.

In 1999 they got a contract with the German label Ars Metalli Records, after which they started recording their debut album. After numerous delays and difficulties, Í Blóði Og Anda ( Eng . 'In Blood and Spirit') was published in 2002 . Shortly thereafter, the label filed for bankruptcy. Halldór Einarsson left the band at the same time and was replaced by Svavar Austman.

While the first two releases were mainly in the area of Black and Viking Metal , here they incorporated a lot of hardcore punk elements into their music, the vocals now resembled a shouting common in punk . The debut already received good reviews. Alex from The Metal Observer compared the album to the debut album HEart of the Ages by the Norwegian band In the Woods… .

As Sæór Maríus Sæþórsson joined the band as the second guitarist shortly afterwards, the four of them recorded the demo Black Death: The Demo for the first time in February 2002 . They became aware of them through the Internet, and the Ketzer Records label contacted them and released three of the songs from the demo as a 7 "EP in cooperation with Neodawn Productions. Black Death: The EP was limited to 500 copies and was already sold out from the start.

It took until 2005 that Sólstafir had enough material for a new album. They then signed with Spinefarm Records . Masterpiece of Bitterness was released on December 30, 2005 . The album is a musical departure from typical Viking Metal and is clearly multi-layered, varied and progressive. Elements from Doom Metal , Postrock , Psychedelic Rock , Ambient and Punk are combined. This album was also well received, it was more thought-out than its predecessor and does justice to the rough nature of Iceland.

On Köld (2009) and Svartir Sandar (2011) they developed this style further. Some rocky parts appeared on Köld, which reminded the reviewer on Metal1.info of Kyuss , Svartir Sandar adopted a slightly different style, which is described as a bit scratchy than its predecessor, but also very varied. The opener Ljos í Stormi starts out rather melancholy, while Þín Orð is aggressive and scruffy.

In 2010 Sólstafir performed at the Wacken Open Air .

The fifth studio album Ótta was released on August 29, 2014 , on which the band set the course of a day to music according to the traditional Icelandic time division in three-hour intervals (Lágnætti, Ótta, Rismál, Dagmál, Miðdegi, Nón, Miðaftann and Náttmál). In the fall the band went on their first headlining tour.

Guðmundur Óli Pálmason was absent from the concert tour in spring 2015. In a short statement in a weblog on January 26th, Guðmundur described himself as "Sólstafir's ex-drummer". On June 3, 2015, he posted a detailed statement on the same website describing how he was banned from the band by the other three musicians on January 20, the day before leaving for the tour.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Ótta
  DE 25th 09/12/2014 (1 week)
  AT 65 09/12/2014 (1 week)
  CH 64 07.09.2014 (1 week)
Berdreyminn
  DE 30th 06/02/2017 (1 week)
  AT 35 06/09/2017 (1 week)
  CH 42 06/04/2017 (1 week)
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason on the Barge to Hell, 2012

Demos

  • 1995: Í Norðri ( demo )
  • 1997: Promo Tape September 1997 (Demo)
  • 1998: Unofficial Promo 1998 (Demo)

Albums

Singles

  • 1996: Til Valhallar ( EP ) (View Beyond Records) , (2003 re-release by Oskorei Productions)
  • 2002: Black Death (EP) (Ketzer Records)
  • 2004: Promo 2004 (EP) (Svalbard)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alex: SÓLSTAFIR - Í Blóði Og Anda .
  2. ↑ SirG: Solstafir - Masterpiece Of Bitterness .
  3. ↑ Marius Mutz: Sólstafir - Köld ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.metal1.info
  4. ↑ The.Beaver: Solstafir - Svartir Sandar .
  5. ↑ Sólstafir review of Svartir Sandar as album of the month .
  6. ^ Richard K .: SÓLSTAFIR live in Cologne. First headlining triumphal procession for the Icelanders. Nonpop, accessed November 21, 2014 .
  7. ↑ https://solstafirofficial.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/to-clear-up-any-misunderstanding/
  8. ↑ https://solstafirofficial.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/statement-about-my-forced-absence-from-solstafir/
  9. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH

Web links

Commons : Sólstafir  - collection of images, videos and audio files