| Solefald have been bent on shattering the paradigms of black metal since their inception. Their first release actually caused them to receive a death threat from one of the "true" black metallers. In contempt of such close-mindedness, their follow-up album was even more of a mockery, fusing punk, trip-hop, reggae and rap-inspired vocals with their black metal roots. Someone must have seen something in the group as they were picked up by Century Media Records following that album. All joking aside (ok, not all, but some), the band completed their third work "Pills Against The Ageless Ills" minus all the extra influence. The two-man group, Lars (who also plays keyboards in Borknagar) and Cornelius have crafted a nonsensical storyline for the whole of "Pills Against The Ageless Ills". The tale is of two brothers, Cain and Fuck. Cain is a porn film producer who is found guilty of killing Kurt Cobain. It only gets more hairy from there. Musically, the album holds onto enough from the black metal scene to be lumped into it, while reaching out of that arena into more avantgarde styles. The album is full of thick sonic soundscapes and samples. Dual vocals battle throughout the album, one of which is clean and operatic, much like Simen of Dimmu Borgir (ex-singer of Borknagar) and the other is more the typical black metal bleeding throat hiss. The group's self-classified "red music with black edges" may be the best descriptor for Solefald, as there's definitely a black metal backdrop, but much more happening on the inside. I'd have to think that the black metal scene may be more jealous of this band's talent and ability to take the sound in new directions than of the "mockery" they bring with them. |
