SÓLSTAFIR

Sólstafir extend European tour with AMORPHIS

Icelandic post metal band SÓLSTAFIR have previously announced their European tour dates as special guests to AMORPHIS, but the band has now extended the tour with more dates!

The trek will start at the Carlswerk Victoria venue in Köln (DE) on the 27th of October 2023, and sees the band performing in 15 more countries until the final curtain in Vilnius (LT) on December 2nd 2023.

But there is more! Label mates THE ABBEY will join 9 dates in support of the tour! A full list of tour dates can be found below.

SÓLSTAFIR
+Amorphis
27 Oct 23 Köln (DE) Carlswerk Victoria
28 Oct 23 Geiselwind (DE) Music Hall
29 Oct 23 Utrecht (NL) Tivoli Vredenburg
30 Oct 23Karlsruhe (DE) Substage
31 Oct 23 Wörgl (AT) Komma VZ
01 Nov 23 Zagreb (HR) Boogaloo Club
02 Nov 23 Belgrade (RS) Dom Aladine *
03 Nov 23 Thessaloniki (GR) Principal Club Theater
04 Nov 23 Athens (GR) Fuzz Live Music Club
05 Nov 23 Sofia (BG) Hristo Botev Hall *
06 Nov 23 Bucharest (RO) Arenele Romane *
07 Nov 23 Cluj-Napoca (RO) Form Space *
09 Nov 23 Kosice (SK) Collosseum
10 Nov 23 Bratislava (SK) Majestic Music Club
11 Nov 23 Linz (AT) Posthof
12 Nov 23 Zlin-Cepkov (CZ) Masters of Rock Cafe
14 Nov 23 Gdansk (PL) B90

15 Nov 23 Kraków (PL) Kamienna12
16 Nov 23 Dresden (DE) Stromwerk
17 Nov 23 Weissenhauser Strand (DE) Metal Hammer Paradise
18 Nov 23 Hannover (DE) Capitol *
19 Nov 23 Hamburg (DE) Uebel & Gefährlich **
21 Nov 23 Aarhus (DK) Train **
22 Nov 23 Stavanger (NO) Folken **
23 Nov 23 Bergen (NO) Hulen **
24 Nov 23 Oslo (NO) John Dee **
25 Nov 23 Gothenburg (SE) Brewhouse **
26 Nov 23 Stockholm (SE) Debaser Strand  **
01 Dec 23 Riga (LV) Melna Piektdiena **
02 Dec 23 Vilnius (LT) Loftas **

* Special guest to AMORPHIS
** Support by THE ABBEY

SÓLSTAFIR will be touring in support of their latest album ‘Endless Twilight of Codependent Love’ which was released in 2020 via Season of Mist. A bloody new music video for the track ‘Dionysus’ was released last week, which can still be seen via the official Season of Mist YouTube channel HERE. 

The cover artwork and track-list can be found below, together with the album info. The painting is a watercolour of the Lady of the Mountain, 1864, by Johann Baptist Zwecker.

Tracklist:
1. Akkeri (10:10)
2. Drýsill (08:52)
3. Rökkur (07:06)
4. Her Fall From Grace (06:36)
5. Dionysus (05:31)
6. Til Moldar (04:29)
7. Alda Syndanna (04:30)
8. Or (06:58)
9. Úlfur (08:49)

A quarter of a century after singer/guitarist Aðalbjörn “Addi” Tryggvason co-founded atmospheric Icelandic metal quartet Sólstafir, they continue to follow their cardinal rule – that there are no rules. For them, writing an epic 10-minute song without a traditional verse/chorus trade-off feels natural. While they have done two albums in English, he mainly sings in their native tongue and his vocals are as much an instrument as a vessel for words. Their videos equally showcase the band and their Icelandic world that they commune with.

And their music flows however it pleases. “Having been a metal band for a long time and gone through shoegaze, atmospheric black metal, and post rock, I just feel privileged being able to mix all my favorite genres and get away with it,” says Tryggvason.

In the world of Sólstafir, artists as varied as The Beatles, Kraftwerk, Darkthrone, Ennio Morricone, and Billy Corgan swirl inside their heads, and such influences seep into their musical ether. Funnily enough, the cover for the group’s latest album Endless Twilight of Codependent Love might remind one of a famous Smashing Pumpkins album cover.

Painted in watercolor by Johann Baptist Zwecker in 1864, The Lady of the Mountain is the female personification of Iceland. It was first published in a book of Icelandic folk tales but was never shown in public. A black and white woodblock replica by the artist is what Icelanders have known until recently when two citizens found the original hidden in a Welsh museum gallery where it had been in storage for a century. Now it is back home and adorning the cover of the new Sólstafir album.

“Everybody knows the image of the Lady of the Mountain,” declares Tryggvason. All of a sudden, the original pops up and it’s like, ‘Oh my god, these are the most beautiful colors I’ve ever seen. And why does it remind me of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness?’ So that’s purely accidental. When we saw this photo, we had to use it. It’s too beautiful.”

While early Sólstafir lyrics delved into Nordic mythology and critiques of organized religion, more recent songs explore their spiritual connection with nature, and lately, mental disorders ranging from depression to alcoholism and the taboo behind men in particular discussing those things for fear of being perceived weak.

“That’s the real darkness that you can’t see, but you can feel it and people around you can feel it,” explains Tryggvason. “Of course, there are serial killers and plagues and whatever through history. But in modern day life, that’s the true darkness around you. People kill themselves every day, and often people close to you who have been feeling so bad.”

He says the most personal song on Endless Twilight of Codependent Love is “Her Fall From Grace,” the lone track in English. It chronicles the pain of watching a loved one succumb to mental illness.

“It’s very sad when you love someone and you see them get sick,” muses Tryggvason. “Like Layne Staley said, ‘Slow suicide is no way to go.’ But you’re just watching on the audience bench, preparing for the phone call. ‘Hey man, Johnny’s dead.’ ‘All right, I knew Johnny was gonna die. I’ve been watching him in slow motion.’” He likens the experience to seeing a relative or parent be consumed by Alzheimer’s and turn into a different person than one remembers.

Although the band’s lyrics are predominately in Icelandic, that does not prevent outside listeners from appreciating the emotional power of their music. It has been said that many fans can feel his pain even if they do not overtly understand what he is singing about.

A beautiful moment in that regard occurred when Sólstafir played Bogota, Colombia in September 2017. It was the smallest show on their South American tour, and they presumed it would not be as lively. The 300 strong throng proved them wrong. “It felt like I was in Queen at Wembley Stadium,” Tryggvason recollects fondly. “They sang every goddamn word in Icelandic. How can you explain that?”

Such passionate reactions have not gone unnoticed in their homeland. Iceland picked Sólstafir to play a total of six events New York City, Seattle, and Toronto last fall called “Taste Of Iceland.” Tryggvason says the band enjoyed the event and their intimate industry showcases at Pianos (NYC) and Livenation (Toronto) during that same trip.

Counter-intuitive thinking has helped Sólstafir evolve and mature. The new track “Or” opens with a languid, bluesy feeling but gradually transforms into an angst-ridden, guitar-driven dirge. When they conjured their breakthrough song “Fjara” in 2011, the group feared its mellow nature might put off their longtime metal followers. Instead, they embraced it. That tune, along with the ambient, banjo-laden track “Ótta,” allowed the group to play both the Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic five years ago and then a family-friendly music event in the Netherlands the next weekend. The new rager “Dionysus” even features a return to their black metal roots that was not planned; the song just turned out that way over a year-long span.

“Our audience grew bigger and more diverse by us just being ourselves and doing nothing different really,” notes Tryggvason.

One of the joys for him and his bandmates – bassist Svavar “Svabbi” Austmann, guitarist Sæþór Maríus “Pjúddi” Sæþórsson, and newer drummer Hallgrímur Jón “Grimsi” Hallgrímsson, who contributed some lyrics this time out – is that their perception of how their new music will turn out never corresponds with reality. It is that unknown factor that keeps things exciting.

“You can never foresee band magic,” declares Tryggvason. “The whole purpose of this is cooking up magic. And if you’re cooking up magic with four or five weirdos, you can never foresee what’s going to happen. You can’t buy that. You have to live it or grow it.”

Recording line-up:
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason – Vocals, uitar
Sæþór M Sæþórsson – Guitar
Svavar Austmann – Bass
Hallgrímur Bárðdal – Drums

Recording: Sundlaugin Studio, Grótta
 
Mixing and mastering: Birgir Jón Birgirsson
 
www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice
www.instagram.com/solstafir_official

VREID and SÓLSTAFIR announce ‘Across’, a cinematic concert experience

Icelandic atmospheric rock ‘n’ rollers SÓLSTAFIR and Norwegian Sognametal brigade VREID have joined forces for a unique and spectacular event! On October 15, these legendary performers will unveil a collaborative concert stream in which they will transport viewers right from their living rooms to the breath-taking mountaintops of the bands’ respective homelands. The performance is free to watch, but generous fans may donate as they wish via VIPS and PayPal. The stream will air live at 3:00 P.M. EST // 19:00 GMT // 21:00 CET via the Season of Mist YouTube Channel and members from both bands will be in the chat!

Tune in on the stream HERE.

The ACROSS project is a cinematic experience that brings two unique artists together to share their cultural identities and bridge the sea between the two fjords. Spectacular views of the Storehogen Mountain in VREID’s hometown of Sogndal, Norway and of Hellisheiði in SÓLSTAFIR’s native Iceland lay the majestic backdrop for this one-of-a-kind, 90-minute long digital streaming event. Each band’s signature sound rings through the cavernous expanse, creating a symbiotic musical dialog that can be heard from across the globe.

SÓLSTAFIR‘s Aðalbjörn Tryggvason comments: “Playing live music in sideways rain on moss grown lava. They wanted something Icelandic. Doesn’t get any more Icelandic than this.”

VREID songwriter and bass player Jarle Kvåle adds: “SÓLSTAFIR‘s and VREID‘s stories are two parallel stories of the north. In this weird world, our paths have crossed on several occasions and this time they have merged into something new.  This is the third streaming event VREID has done, and in many ways, it represents the end of a trilogy for us. This time we have recorded the show in a place very special for us, probably the most monumental and iconic place of our beloved home region of Sogn. Join us as we go ‘Into the Mountains.’”

VREID will be heading out on a Norwegian tour in October / November 2021, with special guests DJERV and THE NEW DEATH CULT. SÓLSTAFIR have previously announced a lengthy European co-headlining tour with KATATONIA, early 2022. Find all confirmed shows below.

VREID
w/ DJERV and THE NEW DEATH CULT
22 Oct 21 Trondheim (NO) Byscenen
23 Oct 21 Oslo (NO) Parkteateret
29 Oct 21 Karmøy (NO) Arctic
30 Oct 21 Kristiansand (NO) Kick
05 Nov 21 Sogndal (NO) Meieriet
06 Nov 21 Hamar (NO) Gregers
07 Nov 21 Bodø (NO) Sinus

SÓLSTAFIR
w/ KATATONIA
21 Jan 22 Tullikamari (FI) Tampere
22 Jan 22 Kulttuuritalo (FI) Helsinki
23 Jan 22 Helitehas (EE ) Tallinn
25 Jan 22 Stodola (PL) Warsaw
26 Jan 22 Huxleys (DE) Berlin
27 Jan 22 Longhorn (DE) Stuttgart
28 Jan 22 Batschkapp (DE) Frankfurt
29 Jan 22 Roxy (CZ) Prague
30 Jan 22 Arena (AT) Vienna
01 Feb 22 Akvarium Klub (HU) Budapest
02 Feb 22 Backstage Werk (DE) Munich
03 Feb 22 Komplex 457 (CH) Zurich
04 Feb 22 Live Club (IT) Milan
05 Feb 22 Ninkasi Kao (FR) Lyon
07 Feb 22 Kapital (ES) Madrid

08 Feb 22 Apolo (ES) Barcelona
09 Feb 22 Metronum (FR) Toulouse
11 Feb 22 O2 Forum Kentish Town (UK) London
12 Feb 22 O2 Ritz (UK) Manchester
13 Feb 22 SWX (UK) Bristol
14 Feb 22 Garage (UK) Glasgow
15 Feb 22 KK’s Steelmill (UK) Wolverhampton
17 Feb 22 Rockhal (LU) Luxembourg
18 Feb 22 Patronaat (NL) Haarlem
19 Feb 22 Essigfabrik (DE) Cologne
20 Feb 22 Trianon (FR) Paris
22 Feb 22 Trix (BE) Antwerp
23 Feb 22 Gruenspan (DE) Hamburg
24 Feb 22 Amager bio (DK) Copenhagen
25 Feb 22 Rockefeller (NO) Oslo
26 Feb 22 Fållan (SE) Stockholm

SÓLSTAFIR premiere new music video for “Her Fall From Grace”

Icelandic post rock outfit SÓLSTAFIR are now premiering a brand new music video for the song “Her Fall From Grace”. Watch the video here:

Vocalist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason comments: “We present to you the next single from our upcoming album “Endless Twilight of Codependent Love” entitled, “Her Fall From Grace”. We hope you enjoy it and take from it what you need.”

The track is taken from the band’s upcoming record ‘Endless Twilight of Codependent Love’, which will be released on November 6. Pre-orders are available in the Season of Mist shop HERE.


1. Akkeri (10:10)
2. Drýsill (08:52)
3. Rökkur (07:06)
4. Her Fall From Grace (06:36)
5. Dionysus (05:31)
6. Til Moldar (04:29)
7. Alda Syndanna (04:30)
8. Or (06:58)
9. Úlfur (08:49)
      Picture by Gaui H.   A quarter of a century after singer/guitarist Aða
lbjörn “Addi” Tryggvason co-founded atmospheric Icelandic metal quartet Sólstafir, they continue to follow their cardinal rule – that there are no rules. For them, writing an epic 10-minute song without a traditional verse/chorus trade-off feels natural. While they have done two albums in English, he mainly sings in their native tongue and his vocals are as much an instrument as a vessel for words. Their videos equally showcase the band and their Icelandic world that they commune with.

And their music flows however it pleases. “Having been a metal band for a long time and gone through shoegaze, atmospheric black metal, and post rock, I just feel privileged being able to mix all my favorite genres and get away with it,” says Tryggvason.

In the world of Sólstafir, artists as varied as The Beatles, Kraftwerk, Darkthrone, Ennio Morricone, and Billy Corgan swirl inside their heads, and such influences seep into their musical ether. Funnily enough, the cover for the group’s latest album Endless Twilight of Codependent Love might remind one of a famous Smashing Pumpkins album cover.

Painted in watercolor by Johann Baptist Zwecker in 1864, The Lady of the Mountain is the female personification of Iceland. It was first published in a book of Icelandic folk tales but was never shown in public. A black and white woodblock replica by the artist is what Icelanders have known until recently when two citizens found the original hidden in a Welsh museum gallery where it had been in storage for a century. Now it is back home and adorning the cover of the new Sólstafir album.

“Everybody knows the image of the Lady of the Mountain,” declares Tryggvason. All of a sudden, the original pops up and it’s like, ‘Oh my god, these are the most beautiful colors I’ve ever seen. And why does it remind me of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness?’ So that’s purely accidental. When we saw this photo, we had to use it. It’s too beautiful.”

While early Sólstafir lyrics delved into Nordic mythology and critiques of organized religion, more recent songs explore their spiritual connection with nature, and lately, mental disorders ranging from depression to alcoholism and the taboo behind men in particular discussing those things for fear of being perceived weak.
 
“That’s the real darkness that you can’t see, but you can feel it and people around you can feel it,” explains Tryggvason. “Of course, there are serial killers and plagues and whatever through history. But in modern day life, that’s the true darkness around you. People kill themselves every day, and often people close to you who have been feeling so bad.”

He says the most personal song on Endless Twilight of Codependent Love is “Her Fall From Grace,” the lone track in English. It chronicles the pain of watching a loved one succumb to mental illness.

“It’s very sad when you love someone and you see them get sick,” muses Tryggvason. “Like Layne Staley said, ‘Slow suicide is no way to go.’ But you’re just watching on the audience bench, preparing for the phone call. ‘Hey man, Johnny’s dead.’ ‘All right, I knew Johnny was gonna die. I’ve been watching him in slow motion.’” He likens the experience to seeing a relative or parent be consumed by Alzheimer’s and turn into a different person than one remembers.

Although the band’s lyrics are predominately in Icelandic, that does not prevent outside listeners from appreciating the emotional power of their music. It has been said that many fans can feel his pain even if they do not overtly understand what he is singing about.

A beautiful moment in that regard occurred when Sólstafir played Bogota, Colombia in September 2017. It was the smallest show on their South American tour, and they presumed it would not be as lively. The 300 strong throng proved them wrong. “It felt like I was in Queen at Wembley Stadium,” Tryggvason recollects fondly. “They sang every goddamn word in Icelandic. How can you explain that?”

Such passionate reactions have not gone unnoticed in their homeland. Iceland picked Sólstafir to play a total of six events New York City, Seattle, and Toronto last fall called “Taste Of Iceland.” Tryggvason says the band enjoyed the event and their intimate industry showcases at Pianos (NYC) and Livenation (Toronto) during that same trip.

Counter-intuitive thinking has helped Sólstafir evolve and mature. The new track “Or” opens with a languid, bluesy feeling but gradually transforms into an angst-ridden, guitar-driven dirge. When they conjured their breakthrough song “Fjara” in 2011, the group feared its mellow nature might put off their longtime metal followers. Instead, they embraced it. That tune, along with the ambient, banjo-laden track “Ótta,” allowed the group to play both the Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic five years ago and then a family-friendly music event in the Netherlands the next weekend. The new rager “Dionysus” even features a return to their black metal roots that was not planned; the song just turned out that way over a year-long span.

“Our audience grew bigger and more diverse by us just being ourselves and doing nothing different really,” notes Tryggvason.

One of the joys for him and his bandmates – bassist Svavar “Svabbi” Austmann, guitarist Sæþór Maríus “Pjúddi” Sæþórsson, and newer drummer Hallgrímur Jón “Grimsi” Hallgrímsson, who contributed some lyrics this time out – is that their perception of how their new music will turn out never corresponds with reality. It is that unknown factor that keeps things exciting.

“You can never foresee band magic,” declares Tryggvason. “The whole purpose of this is cooking up magic. And if you’re cooking up magic with four or five weirdos, you can never foresee what’s going to happen. You can’t buy that. You have to live it or grow it.”

Recording line-up:
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason – Vocals, uitar
Sæþór M Sæþórsson – Guitar
Svavar Austmann – Bass
Hallgrímur Bárðdal – Drums

Recording: Sundlaugin Studio, Grótta
 
Mixing and mastering: Birgir Jón Birgirsson
 
www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice
https://www.instagram.com/solstafir_official

Sólstafir share new album details and release teaser

Iceland post rock outfit SÓLSTAFIR are now announcing the details for their new album ‘Endless Twilight of Codependent Love’. The record will be released on November 6, via Season of Mist. The cover artwork and tracklist can be found below. 

The band have also released a teaser for the new record, which can be viewed here:
‘Endless Twilight of Codependent Love’ was recorded at the Sundlaugin Studio (Iceland), where ‘Svartir Sandar’, ‘Ótta’ and ‘Berdreyminn’ were also recorded by producer Birgir Jón Birgisson (Sigur Rós, Alcest, Damien Rice).
The cover artwork and track-list can be found below, together with the album info. The painting is a watercolour of the Lady of the Mountain, 1864, by Johann Baptist Zwecker.
Tracklist:
1. Akkeri (10:10)
2. Drýsill (08:52)
3. Rökkur (07:06)
4. Her Fall From Grace (06:36)
5. Dionysus (05:31)
6. Til Moldar (04:29)
7. Alda Syndanna (04:30)
8. Or (06:58)
9. Úlfur (08:49)
10. Hrollkalda Þoka Einmanaleikans (06:39) bonus track
11. Hann For Sjalfur (08:09) bonus track
Total: 1:17:49
Recording line-up:
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason – Vocals, uitar
Sæþór M Sæþórsson – Guitar
Svavar Austmann – Bass
Hallgrímur Bárðdal – Drums

Recording: Sundlaugin Studio, Grótta
 
Mixing and mastering: Birgir Jón Birgirsson
 
www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice
https://www.instagram.com/solstafir_official

Sólstafir enter studio for 7th full length!

SÓLSTAFIR have now entered the studio for the recording of their seventh full length, which will be released later this year via Season of Mist. The recordings take place at the mighty Sundlaugin Studio (Iceland), where ‘Svartir Sandar’, ‘Ótta’ and ‘Berdreyminn’ were also recorded by producer Birgir Jón Birgisson (Sigur Rós, Alcest, Damien Rice). 

For updates on the recordings, follow SÓLSTAFIR‘s Facebook page or Instagram!

Vocalist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason comments on the recording: “This time around we wrote most of the songs on guitars instead of pianos and organs as we have done a lot in the past. Therefore some songs are pretty heavy, even some are fast, faster than we have been for years”

SÓLSTAFIR have recently released a stunning new video for the track “Bláfjall”, taken from their latest released full-length ‘Berdreyminn’. Watch the emotionally charged video here:
SÓLSTAFIR‘s previous album ‘Berdreyminn’ was released in 2017. The cover artwork and track-list can be found below, together with the album info. 
Track-list 1. Silfur-Refur (6:54)
2. Ísafold (4:59)
3. Hula (7:07)
4. Nárós (7:23)
5. Hvít Sæng (7:22)
6. Dýrafjörður (7:32)
7. Ambátt (8:08)
8. Bláfjall (8:00)
Music will always be inspired by the environment in which it is created. With its incredible array of highly diverse landscapes ranging from white glaciers via volcanic bizarreness, moss-green bubble-fields, deep fjords, and frost-cracked mountains to black beaches, Iceland has shaped a host of astonishingly original and fiercely individual bands such as SIGUR RÓS, BJÖRK, and SÓLSTAFIR.
 
SÓLSTAFIR embody the ever-turning wheel of seasons with their shifting light, darkness, and colours, extreme Northern climate, the stark contrasts, the closeness of beauty and deadly forces of nature, the impressive sceneries that have the bones of ancient gods enshrined in them like hardly any other band in every aspect of their existence.
 
SÓLSTAFIR are not like any other band. Their latest album, ‘Berdreyminn’ underscores this statement. As its title “a dreamer of forthcoming events” aptly describes, the four Icelanders have taken their already impressive evolution one step further. The band has continued to amalgamate haunting melodies, psychedelic phases, as well as strong undercurrents of classic rock and hard rock with echoes of their metal past. Yet SÓLSTAFIR‘s focus is not on style but pure emotion. ‘Berdreyminn’ is eclectic by a conscious choice to make feelings audible and transform taste as well as texture to sound. Genre borders are not broken but simply ignored. Musical influences are gathered from a wide range of sources, re-arranged, and woven into new patterns.  Melancholy, longing, anger, joy, pleasure, pain, and other emotions are fulling this album. 
 
Despite leaning clearly towards an expression that can be described as rock today, SÓLSTAFIR have their roots in metal as their debut full-length ‘Í Blóði og Anda’ (2002), which translates as “In Blood and Spirit” still witnesses. Instead of today’s Icelandic gravel throated siren chants, frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason spat forth vitriolic crusty vocals and all strings were forged with black metal. Already their next albums ‘Masterpiece of Bitterness’ (2005) and ‘Köld’ (2009) marked stations of a continuous evolution. SÓLSTAFIR went further along their solitary path and obviously left any categorising box with the ground-breaking follow-ups ‘Svartir Sandar’ (2011) and ‘Ótta’ (2014), which received high critical acclaim and attracted new fans in equal measure, while managing the difficult feat of keeping most of their earlier following too.
 
SÓLSTAFIR have set sails to new horizons with ‘Berdreyminn’. Yet the Icelanders brought their home with them and the silhouette of their vessels remains easily recognisable. Welcome aboard on a new adventurous musical journey into uncharted territories. 

Line-up
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason: guitar, vocals
Svavar Austmann: bass
Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson: guitar
Hallgrímur Jón Hallgrímsson: drums, backing vocals
 
Guest musicians
Brass, strings, and piano across the tracks
 
Recording: Sundlaugin Studio (IS), Birgir Jón Birgisson & Jaime Gomez Arellano
 
Mixing: Orgone Studio (UK), Jaime Gomez Arellano
 
Mastering: Sterling Mastering (US), Ted Jensen
 
Cover art: Adam Burke
 
www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice

Sólstafir release stunning video for “Bláfjall”

SÓLSTAFIR are now premiering a stunning new video for the track “Bláfjall”, taken from their latest released full-length ‘Berdreyminn’. The video is now streaming here:
SÓLSTAFIR comment: “Here it is, our 3rd video by the almighty Bowen Staines. After we did our last video with Bowen, “Lágnætti” we talked about for years to make another video together. As usual, adventures are like magnets when we join up forces, and this one was no different. We are super proud of the result, and yet again, Bowen shows that he is the master of this game. Enjoy Bláfjall.”
Director Bowen Staines ads to the story: “‘Bláfjall’ was produced and filmed in Iceland from August – October 2018, and edited until April 2019 at the Don’t Panic Films studio in Massachusetts. While originally shot in 4K, the finished product was then scanned in its entirety onto 35mm film. ‘Bláfjall’ tells the story of a mind overtaken with grief, and the mental gymnastics often employed to circumvent grief in order to avoid confronting it. 

Everyone has their secret sorrows which the world knows not; wounds that never show on the body. In ’Bláfjall’, these wounds take the form of memories relived in the present, yet altered by the knowledge of what will come in the future. If grief were sentient, it would attack these memories with the voracity of a virus slowly destroying a computer hard drive, or an illness ravaging a body. 

Pre-production for ‘Bláfjall’ started almost two years ago, and the first day of principal photography began in Hvalfjörður, Southwest Iceland. Predictably, it was so windy (a 115kg dolly track blew over), that I had to rewrite that day’s five-page shotlist in the trunk of Addis’s Jeep.

The rest of the video came together wonderfully, thanks to our cast of Flosi Þorgeirsson (HAM, Glerakur), Bella Morgan, Palli Banine, and Minerva Geirdal. The only other notable thing that happened during this production were the days leading up to crashing that infamous Mercedes. 

The car was an automatic, and the transmission slipped like butter. The momentum from the slightest forward acceleration, say, at a stoplight, would send the gearshift flying back into first gear, and the engine redlining; there is no sound quite like doing 40 on the highway in first gear. I was heading to pick up Flosi in Reykjavík, when suddenly I was doing 60kph in reverse while still going forwards, with the whole car transforming into an industrial noise album. 

The day we filmed the crash, we’d spent hours lining the car up, bracing the steering wheel properly, and closing the roads. It looked like it was dead-on, and then it wasn’t. It missed the other car by centimeters, veered off the road, hit an embankment on the side of a someone’s driveway, cleared the entire driveway, went through a fence, and crashed into a rock in front of a horse stable. The next try was dead-on. 

A heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to everyone who was involved with the making of Sólstafir’s ‘Bláfjall’. To the guys in the band: thank you for trusting me so unconditionally, and allowing me to tell this story with your music. As always, it is a true pleasure to create with you.

We hope that you enjoy watching this as much as we enjoyed making it. 
Takk fyrir okkur.”

Video credits
Don’t Panic Iceland: Bowen Staines SOLSTAFIR
20 Jul 19 Laukaa (FI) John Smith
10 Aug 19 Schlotheim (DE) Party.San 2019
Track-list 1. Silfur-Refur (6:54)
2. Ísafold (4:59)
3. Hula (7:07)
4. Nárós (7:23)
5. Hvít Sæng (7:22)
6. Dýrafjörður (7:32)
7. Ambátt (8:08)
8. Bláfjall (8:00)
Music will always be inspired by the environment in which it is created. With its incredible array of highly diverse landscapes ranging from white glaciers via volcanic bizarreness, moss-green bubble-fields, deep fjords, and frost-cracked mountains to black beaches, Iceland has shaped a host of astonishingly original and fiercely individual bands such as SIGUR RÓS, BJÖRK, and SÓLSTAFIR.
 
SÓLSTAFIR embody the ever-turning wheel of seasons with their shifting light, darkness, and colours, extreme Northern climate, the stark contrasts, the closeness of beauty and deadly forces of nature, the impressive sceneries that have the bones of ancient gods enshrined in them like hardly any other band in every aspect of their existence.
 
SÓLSTAFIR are not like any other band. Their latest album, ‘Berdreyminn’ underscores this statement. As its title “a dreamer of forthcoming events” aptly describes, the four Icelanders have taken their already impressive evolution one step further. The band has continued to amalgamate haunting melodies, psychedelic phases, as well as strong undercurrents of classic rock and hard rock with echoes of their metal past. Yet SÓLSTAFIR‘s focus is not on style but pure emotion. ‘Berdreyminn’ is eclectic by a conscious choice to make feelings audible and transform taste as well as texture to sound. Genre borders are not broken but simply ignored. Musical influences are gathered from a wide range of sources, re-arranged, and woven into new patterns.  Melancholy, longing, anger, joy, pleasure, pain, and other emotions are fulling this album. 
 
Despite leaning clearly towards an expression that can be described as rock today, SÓLSTAFIR have their roots in metal as their debut full-length ‘Í Blóði og Anda’ (2002), which translates as “In Blood and Spirit” still witnesses. Instead of today’s Icelandic gravel throated siren chants, frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason spat forth vitriolic crusty vocals and all strings were forged with black metal. Already their next albums ‘Masterpiece of Bitterness’ (2005) and ‘Köld’ (2009) marked stations of a continuous evolution. SÓLSTAFIR went further along their solitary path and obviously left any categorising box with the ground-breaking follow-ups ‘Svartir Sandar’ (2011) and ‘Ótta’ (2014), which received high critical acclaim and attracted new fans in equal measure, while managing the difficult feat of keeping most of their earlier following too.
 
SÓLSTAFIR have set sails to new horizons with ‘Berdreyminn’. Yet the Icelanders brought their home with them and the silhouette of their vessels remains easily recognisable. Welcome aboard on a new adventurous musical journey into uncharted territories. 
Line-up
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason: guitar, vocals
Svavar Austmann: bass
Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson: guitar
Hallgrímur Jón Hallgrímsson: drums, backing vocals
 
Guest musicians
Brass, strings, and piano across the tracks
 
Recording: Sundlaugin Studio (IS), Birgir Jón Birgisson & Jaime Gomez Arellano
 
Mixing: Orgone Studio (UK), Jaime Gomez Arellano
 
Mastering: Sterling Mastering (US), Ted Jensen
 
Cover art: Adam Burke
 
www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice

Sólstafir embark on Australian tour with Enslaved

SÓLSTAFIR are about to kick off their Australian tour in support of ENSLAVED tonight at the Rosemount Hotel in Perth. The band will perform 3 more shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. A full list of confirmed shows can be found below.

In previous news, SÓLSTAFIR have added more dates to their already announced European tour in support of their latest release ‘Berdreyminn’ this December. Their massive road-trip will kick off at Poland’s B90 in Gdansk on November 20, and run through 17 more countries before the final curtain falls at the Voodoo Lounge in Dublin, Ireland on the 22nd of December.

SÓLSTAFIR Australian tour
+ENSLAVED
29 Aug 18 Perth (AU) Rosemount Hotel
30 Aug 18 Sydney (AU) Factory Theatre
31 Aug 18 Brisbane (AU) The Zoo
01 Sep 18 Melbourne (AU) Max Watts

SÓLSTAFIR European tour
20 Nov 18 Gdansk (PL) B90
21 Nov 18 Warsaw (PL) Progresja
22 Nov 18 Vilnius (LT) Loftas
23 Nov 18 Riga (LV) Melna Vilnius
24 Nov 18 Tallinn (EE) Tapper
29 Nov 18 Gothenburg (SE) Sticky Fingers
30 Nov 18 Oslo (NO) Vulkan Arena
01 Dec 18 Copenhagen (DK) Lille Vega
02 Dec 18 Leipzig (DE) Taubchenthal
03 Dec 18 Stuttgart (DE) Im Wizeman
04 Dec 18 Winterthur (CH) Salzhaus
05 Dec 18 Marseille (FR) Jas Rod
06 Dec 18 Biarritz (FR) Atabal
07 Dec 18 Madrid (ES) Madrid Is The Dark Festival
08 Dec 18 Lisbon (PT) Under The Doom
09 Dec 18 Porto (PT) Hard Club
11 Dec 18 Cognac (FR) West Rock
12 Dec 18 Audincourt (FR) Le Moloco
13 Dec 18 Lille (FR) Aeronef
14 Dec 18 Eindhoven (NL) Eindhoven Metal Meeting
15 Dec 18 Istanbul (TR) Garajistanbul
16 Dec 18 Athens (GR) Fuzz Club

SÓLSTAFIR UK/Ireland tour
17 Dec 18 Bristol (UK) The Fleece
18 Dec 18 Birmingham (UK) Hare & Hounds
19 Dec 18 Manchester (UK) Deaf Institute
20 Dec 18 Glasgow (UK) Classic Grand
21 Dec 18 Belfast (UK) Limelight 2
22 Dec 18 Dublin (IR) Voodoo Lounge

The band will be touring in support of the Icelander’s latest album, ‘Berdreyminn’ which is streaming in full here.

Artwork and further information can be found below.

Track-list
1. Silfur-Refur (6:54)
2. Ísafold (4:59)
3. Hula (7:07)
4. Nárós (7:23)
5. Hvít Sæng (7:22)
6. Dýrafjörður (7:32)
7. Ambátt (8:08)
8. Bláfjall (8:00)

Music will always be inspired by the environment in which it is created. With its incredible array of highly diverse landscapes ranging from white glaciers via volcanic bizarreness, moss-green bubble-fields, deep fjords, and frost-cracked mountains to black beaches, Iceland has shaped a host of astonishingly original and fiercely individual bands such as SIGUR RÓS, BJÖRK, and SÓLSTAFIR.

SÓLSTAFIR embody the ever-turning wheel of seasons with their shifting light, darkness, and colours, extreme Northern climate, the stark contrasts, the closeness of beauty and deadly forces of nature, the impressive sceneries that have the bones of ancient gods enshrined in them like hardly any other band in every aspect of their existence.

SÓLSTAFIR are not like any other band. Their latest album, ‘Berdreyminn’ underscores this statement. As its title “a dreamer of forthcoming events” aptly describes, the four Icelanders have taken their already impressive evolution one step further. The band has continued to amalgamate haunting melodies, psychedelic phases, as well as strong undercurrents of classic rock and hard rock with echoes of their metal past. Yet SÓLSTAFIR’s focus is not on style but pure emotion. ‘Berdreyminn’ is eclectic by a conscious choice to make feelings audible and transform taste as well as texture to sound. Genre borders are not broken but simply ignored. Musical influences are gathered from a wide range of sources, re-arranged, and woven into new patterns. Melancholy, longing, anger, joy, pleasure, pain, and other emotions are fulling this album.

Despite leaning clearly towards an expression that can be described as rock today, SÓLSTAFIR have their roots in metal as their debut full-length ‘Í Blóði og Anda’ (2002), which translates as “In Blood and Spirit” still witnesses. Instead of today’s Icelandic gravel throated siren chants, frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason spat forth vitriolic crusty vocals and all strings were forged with black metal. Already their next albums ‘Masterpiece of Bitterness’ (2005) and ‘Köld’ (2009) marked stations of a continuous evolution. SÓLSTAFIR went further along their solitary path and obviously left any categorising box with the ground-breaking follow-ups ‘Svartir Sandar’ (2011) and ‘Ótta’ (2014), which received high critical acclaim and attracted new fans in equal measure, while managing the difficult feat of keeping most of their earlier following too.

SÓLSTAFIR have set sails to new horizons with ‘Berdreyminn’. Yet the Icelanders brought their home with them and the silhouette of their vessels remains easily recognisable. Welcome aboard on a new adventurous musical journey into uncharted territories.

Line-up
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason: guitar, vocals
Svavar Austmann: bass
Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson: guitar
Hallgrímur Jón Hallgrímsson: drums, backing vocals

Guest musicians
Brass, strings, and piano across the tracks

Recording: Sundlaugin Studio (IS), Birgir Jón Birgisson & Jaime Gomez Arellano

Mixing: Orgone Studio (UK), Jaime Gomez Arellano

Mastering: Sterling Mastering (US), Ted Jensen

Cover art: Adam Burke

www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice

Sólstafir release video for “Hula” in advance of European autumn tour

SÓLSTAFIR are premiering a new video in advance of the second leg of their 2017 European tour in support of their latest full-length ‘Berdreyminn’.

The clip features impressive Ingmar Bergman aesthetics for the track “Hula” and telling a deep story. Check it below

SÓLSTAFIR comment: “When we were on the road in 2013, we came across this place, Hill of Crosses in Lithuania. At the time, we just knew that we would have to shoot a video there one day. We developed a good working relationship with Vesa and Harri back in 2015 with the ‘Miðaftann’ video, and since they are both living in Finland, it seemed a good idea to send them over with the boat from Finland with the camera and help us fulfill this dream of ours.”

Video director Harri Haataja adds: “This time we set out to do video for SÓLSTAFIR outside of Iceland. Aðalbjörn Tryggvason had this beautiful location at Hill of Crosses in mind and we thought that it would fit perfectly for this clip. We also found a couple of other great locations suitable for the story and aesthetic that we had in mind for our video.”

Video credits
Director: Harri Haataja
Cinematography: Vesa Ranta, Harri Haataja
Editing: Aapo Lahtela, Harri Haataja, Vesa Ranta
Camera assistant: Aapo Lahtela
Lighting: Aapo Lahtela
Actors: Eeva-Maria Kauniskangas, Aðalbjörn Tryggvason, and Rauli Marjala

SÓLSTAFIR are roughly a month away from embarking on the second leg of their 2017 European tour. The enigmatic Icelandic rockers will be joined by MYRKUR and Icelandic label mates ÁRSTÍÐIR.

SÓLSTAFIR
13 Nov 17 Helsinki (FI) Tavastia Bar
14 Nov 17 Moscow (RU) Volta
15 Nov 17 St. Peterburg (RU) Club Zal

SÓLSTAFIR tour
+MYRKUR +ÁRSTÍÐIR
17 Nov 17 London (UK) Heaven
18 Nov 17 Leeuwarden (NL) Neushoorn
19 Nov 17 Lille (FR) Maison Folie Beaulieu
20 Nov 17 Paris (FR) Alhambra
21 Nov 17 Rennes (FR) Antipode MJC
23 Nov 17 Bilbao (ES) Santana27
24 Nov 17 Madrid (ES) Caracol
25 Nov 17 Barcelona (ES) Razzmatazz2
26 Nov 17 Marseille (FR) Jas Rod (without Myrkur)
27 Nov 17 Aarau (CH) Kiff
28 Nov 17 Milano (IT) Circolo Magnolia
29 Nov 17 München (DE) Theaterfabrik
30 Nov 17 Salzburg (AT) Rockhouse
01 Dec 17 Bologna (IT) Locomotiv
02 Dec 17 Zagreb (HR) Cultura Factory
04 Dec 17 Belgrade (RS) Dom Omladine
05 Dec 17 Bucuresti (RO) Quantic Club
06 Dec 17 Cluj-Napoca (RO) Form Space
07 Dec 17 Budapest (HU) A38
08 Dec 17 Wien (AT) Arena
10 Dec 17 Krakow (PL) Kwadrat
11 Dec 17 Praha (CZ) Roxy
12 Dec 17 Berlin (DE) Heimathafen
13 Dec 17 Köln (DE) Kantine
14 Dec 17 Osnabrück (DE) Rosenhof (without Myrkur)
15 Dec 17 Rotterdam (NL) maasSilo
16 Dec 17 Bruxelles (BE) VK
17 Dec 17 Hamburg (DE) Gruenspan
18 Dec 17 København (DK) Pumpehuset
19 Dec 17 Oslo (NO) Parkteateret
20 Dec 17 Stockholm (SE) Debaser Strand

www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice

Icelandic Metal band Sólstafir enter charts with new album ‘Berdreyminn’

SÓLSTAFIR have entered the album charts in several countries in the first week after ‘Berdreyminn’ was released worldwide on May 26th. It is actually hard to overstate the massive achievement of a band coming from a volcanic island close to the arctic circle in the North Atlantic midway between Europe and America that sings in Icelandic and that has evolved a highly original style of music very much their own. Excluding the multiple high scores in digital charts across all platforms worldwide and focusing on physical charts, these are the album’s current results (with expected top positions from their native Iceland and other countries still missing):

Finland #20 National album charts

France #121 National charts
France #2 Metal charts

Germany #30 National album charts

Sweden #8 Vinyl charts
Sweden #18 Hardrock charts

Switzerland #42 National charts

UK #39 – Top 100 independent album chart
UK #24 – Top 40 rock/metal album chart

The cover art by Adam Burke and track-list of ‘Berdreyminn’ can be viewed below.

Track-list
1. Silfur-Refur (6:54)
2. Ísafold (4:59)
3. Hula (7:07)
4. Nárós (7:23)
5. Hvít Sæng (7:22)
6. Dýrafjörður (7:32)
7. Ambátt (8:08)
8. Bláfjall (8:00)

On previous news, SÓLSTAFIR have released their first video for a track taken from ‘Berdreyminn’

Frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason commented on behalf of SÓLSTAFIR: “Videos have always been a medium that we are taking seriously. Therefore, we have worked with excellent visual artists like Bowen Staines and Vesa Ranta on previous clips. We are privileged to have been able to enlist the team of Nico Poalillo and Peter Beste to create the imagery for ‘Silfur-Refur’. They have directed and produced a video that beautifully illustrates our song – at least in our minds. We are giving Nico and Peter our heartfelt thanks for their amazing contribution to our musical vision. The video’s meaning is a puzzle, which we are leaving for you to solve as we don’t want to spoil your imagination spinning stories of its own. We sincerely hope that you enjoy ‘Silfur-Refur’ as much as we do.”

SÓLSTAFIR have previously announced their first European tour in support of their forthcoming full-length ‘Beyrdreyminn’ (out May 26th) in June.

The tour will kick off at the Download Festival in Paris on June 10th and afterwards the enigmatic Icelandic rockers will continue to perform in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France before a final show at the Spanish edition of Download in Madrid on the 24th of June.

SÓLSTAFIR commented on the tour: “We are stoked to be back on the road and doing up ‘n close personal club shows between summer festivals. Some of the small venues are expected to sell out fast – so better get your ticket right away.”

SÓLSTAFIR tour
10 Jun 17 Paris (FR) Download Festival
11 Jun 17 Brighton (UK) The Haunt
12 Jun 17 Colchester (UK) Arts Centre
13 Jun 17 Leeds (UK) Brudenell Social Club
14 Jun 17 London (UK) Old Blue Last (SOLD OUT!)
15 Jun 17 Breda (NL) Mezz
16 Jun 17 Dessel (BE) Graspop Metal Meeting
17 Jun 17 Utrecht (NL) Tivoli de Helling
18 Jun 17 Hannover (DE) Musikzentrum
19 Jun 17 Dresden (DE) Beatpol
20 Jun 17 Karlsruhe (DE) Jubez
21 Jun 17 Colmar (FR) Fete de la Musique
22 Jun 17 Lyon (FR) CCO Villeurbanne
23 Jun 17 Toulouse (FR) Rex
24 Jun 17 Madrid (ES) Download Festival

SÓLSTAFIR festivals
08 Jul 17 Neskaupstaður (IS) Eistnaflug Festival
28 Jul 17 Balve (DE) Balver Höhle (Prophecy Fest)
29 Jul 17 Neuensee bei Lichtenfels (DE) Rock im Wald
11 Aug 17 Rasnov (RO) Rockstadt Extreme Fest (exact date tba)
18 Aug 17 Borre (NO) Midgardsblot Festival (exact date tba)

Music will always be inspired by the environment in which it is created. With its incredible array of highly diverse landscapes ranging from white glaciers via volcanic bizarreness, moss-green bubble-fields, deep fjords, and frost-cracked mountains to black beaches, Iceland has shaped a host of astonishingly original and fiercely individual bands such as SIGUR RÓS, BJÖRK, and SÓLSTAFIR.

SÓLSTAFIR embody the ever-turning wheel of seasons with their shifting light, darkness, and colours, extreme Northern climate, the stark contrasts, the closeness of beauty and deadly forces of nature, the impressive sceneries that have the bones of ancient gods enshrined in them like hardly any other band in every aspect of their existence.

SÓLSTAFIR are not like any other band. Their latest album, ‘Berdreyminn’ underscores this statement. As its title “a dreamer of forthcoming events” aptly describes, the four Icelanders have taken their already impressive evolution one step further. The band has continued to amalgamate haunting melodies, psychedelic phases, as well as strong undercurrents of classic rock and hard rock with echoes of their metal past. Yet SÓLSTAFIR’s focus is not on style but pure emotion. ‘Berdreyminn’ is eclectic by a conscious choice to make feelings audible and transform taste as well as texture to sound. Genre borders are not broken but simply ignored. Musical influences are gathered from a wide range of sources, re-arranged, and woven into new patterns. Melancholy, longing, anger, joy, pleasure, pain, and other emotions are fulling this album.

Despite leaning clearly towards an expression that can be described as rock today, SÓLSTAFIR have their roots in metal as their debut full-length ‘Í Blóði og Anda’ (2002), which translates as “In Blood and Spirit” still witnesses. Instead of today’s Icelandic gravel throated siren chants, frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason spat forth vitriolic crusty vocals and all strings were forged with black metal. Already their next albums ‘Masterpiece of Bitterness’ (2005) and ‘Köld’ (2009) marked stations of a continuous evolution. SÓLSTAFIR went further along their solitary path and obviously left any categorising box with the ground-breaking follow-ups ‘Svartir Sandar’ (2011) and ‘Ótta’ (2014), which received high critical acclaim and attracted new fans in equal measure, while managing the difficult feat of keeping most of their earlier following too.

SÓLSTAFIR have set sails to new horizons with ‘Berdreyminn’. Yet the Icelanders brought their home with them and the silhouette of their vessels remains easily recognisable. Welcome aboard on a new adventurous musical journey into uncharted territories.

Line-up
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason: guitar, vocals
Svavar Austmann: bass
Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson: guitar
Hallgrímur Jón Hallgrímsson: drums, backing vocals

Icelandic Metal Band SÓLSTAFIR Stream their new album Beyrdreyminn in its Entirety

SÓLSTAFIR are unveiling their complete forthcoming full-length, ‘Berdreyminn’, which means a “dreamer of forthcoming events”. The new sixth masterpiece of the enigmatic Icelanders will be released tomorrow on Friday, May 26th

Frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason comments on behalf of SÓLSTAFIR: “Finally, the time has come to present you ‘Berdreyminn’ in its entirety. Hopefully, the previous pieces that we have released will now fall into their rightful places in the puzzle that this album represents. There is much to explore, surprises to discover as well as meeting old friends again, and we sincerely hope that you will like what you find. Enjoy!”

The cover art by Adam Burke and track-list of ‘Berdreyminn’ can be viewed below.

Track-list
1. Silfur-Refur (6:54)
2. Ísafold (4:59)
3. Hula (7:07)
4. Nárós (7:23)
5. Hvít Sæng (7:22)
6. Dýrafjörður (7:32)
7. Ambátt (8:08)
8. Bláfjall (8:00)

SÓLSTAFIR have previously announced their first European tour in support of their forthcoming full-length ‘Beyrdreyminn’ (out May 26th) in June.

The tour will kick off at the Download Festival in Paris on June 10th and afterwards the enigmatic Icelandic rockers will continue to perform in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France before a final show at the Spanish edition of Download in Madrid on the 24th of June.

SÓLSTAFIR commented on the tour: “We are stoked to be back on the road and doing up ‘n close personal club shows between summer festivals. Some of the small venues are expected to sell out fast – so better get your ticket right away.”

SÓLSTAFIR tour
10 Jun 17 Paris (FR) Download Festival
11 Jun 17 Brighton (UK) The Haunt
12 Jun 17 Colchester (UK) Arts Centre
13 Jun 17 Leeds (UK) Brudenell Social Club
14 Jun 17 London (UK) Old Blue Last
15 Jun 17 Breda (NL) Mezz
16 Jun 17 Dessel (BE) Graspop Metal Meeting
17 Jun 17 Utrecht (NL) Tivoli de Helling
18 Jun 17 Hannover (DE) Musikzentrum
19 Jun 17 Dresden (DE) Beatpol
20 Jun 17 Karlsruhe (DE) Jubez
21 Jun 17 Colmar (FR) Fete de la Musique
22 Jun 17 Lyon (FR) CCO Villeurbanne
23 Jun 17 Toulouse (FR) Rex
24 Jun 17 Madrid (ES) Download Festival

SÓLSTAFIR festivals
07 Jul 17 Neskaupstaður (IS) Eistnaflug Festival (Exact date tba)
29 Jul 17 Neuensee bei Lichtenfels (DE) Rock im Wald
18 Aug 17 Borre (NO) Midgardsblot Festival 2017 (Exact date tba)

Music will always be inspired by the environment in which it is created. With its incredible array of highly diverse landscapes ranging from white glaciers via volcanic bizarreness, moss-green bubble-fields, deep fjords, and frost-cracked mountains to black beaches, Iceland has shaped a host of astonishingly original and fiercely individual bands such as SIGUR RÓS, BJÖRK, and SÓLSTAFIR.

SÓLSTAFIR embody the ever-turning wheel of seasons with their shifting light, darkness, and colours, extreme Northern climate, the stark contrasts, the closeness of beauty and deadly forces of nature, the impressive sceneries that have the bones of ancient gods enshrined in them like hardly any other band in every aspect of their existence.

SÓLSTAFIR are not like any other band. Their latest album, ‘Berdreyminn’ underscores this statement. As its title “a dreamer of forthcoming events” aptly describes, the four Icelanders have taken their already impressive evolution one step further. The band has continued to amalgamate haunting melodies, psychedelic phases, as well as strong undercurrents of classic rock and hard rock with echoes of their metal past. Yet SÓLSTAFIR’s focus is not on style but pure emotion. ‘Berdreyminn’ is eclectic by a conscious choice to make feelings audible and transform taste as well as texture to sound. Genre borders are not broken but simply ignored. Musical influences are gathered from a wide range of sources, re-arranged, and woven into new patterns. Melancholy, longing, anger, joy, pleasure, pain, and other emotions are fulling this album.

Despite leaning clearly towards an expression that can be described as rock today, SÓLSTAFIR have their roots in metal as their debut full-length ‘Í Blóði og Anda’ (2002), which translates as “In Blood and Spirit” still witnesses. Instead of today’s Icelandic gravel throated siren chants, frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason spat forth vitriolic crusty vocals and all strings were forged with black metal. Already their next albums ‘Masterpiece of Bitterness’ (2005) and ‘Köld’ (2009) marked stations of a continuous evolution. SÓLSTAFIR went further along their solitary path and obviously left any categorising box with the ground-breaking follow-ups ‘Svartir Sandar’ (2011) and ‘Ótta’ (2014), which received high critical acclaim and attracted new fans in equal measure, while managing the difficult feat of keeping most of their earlier following too.

SÓLSTAFIR have set sails to new horizons with ‘Berdreyminn’. Yet the Icelanders brought their home with them and the silhouette of their vessels remains easily recognisable. Welcome aboard on a new adventurous musical journey into uncharted territories.

Line-up
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason: guitar, vocals
Svavar Austmann: bass
Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson: guitar
Hallgrímur Jón Hallgrímsson: drums, backing vocals

Guest musicians
Brass, strings, and piano across the tracks

Recording: Sundlaugin Studio (IS), Birgir Jón Birgisson & Jaime Gomez Arellano

Mixing: Orgone Studio (UK), Jaime Gomez Arellano

Mastering: Sterling Mastering (US), Ted Jensen

Cover art: Adam Burke

www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice