This time SÓLSTAFIR comes back with their newest album “Hin helga kvöl” (The Holy Suffering), which is an evocative and profound exploration of raw emotion and crushingly stark beauty, drawing deep inspiration from the band's cultural heritage and the jaw dropping landscapes of their homeland.
SÓLSTAFIR, which meaning "crepuscular rays" in Icelandic, refers to those piercing rays of sunlight that break through dark clouds at dusk. This imagery perfectly captures the essence of “Hin helga kvöl”, a beacon of light and hope shining through the heaviest of times. As the band confronts their inner demons, shrugging off the trappings of Rock and Roll decadence, their music resonates with the universal struggle and triumph over hardship. “Hin helga kvöl” is the holy war that we all face within. Masters at work, with a wealth of experience, using their rich past to take their songs to groundbreaking peaks, “Hin helga kvöl” is SÓLSTAFIR at their most agile and graceful. Lead vocalist and guitarist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason shares: "We wanted something different, so we went to a beautiful studio in a very remote place up in Skagafjörður. Just being there, the four of us with our good friend Jói as a producer, really did the trick."
“Hin helga kvöl” runs the gamut between SÓLSTAFIR’s Black Metal roots and their penchant for tuneful, anthemic rock, all while maintaining sprawling instrumentation where it counts most. SÓLSTAFIR expertly twists and contorts through a range of styles and eclectic elements, but all woven within their Icelandic tundra expanse. When asked to describe the music on “Hin helga kvöl”, Tryggvason simply replies with one word: “solitude”. Solitude is a perfectly succinct word for SÓLSTAFIR’s ardently unfiltered music where we discover ourselves, with a new found reverence for solitary reflection. This is “Hin helga kvöl”, the holy struggle for overcoming adversity in life.
