Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Sólstafir - Masterpiece Of Bitterness (2005)


So here it is, by request Solstafir's Masterpiece of Bitterness.

With this years release of Kold it seems Sólstafir are gaining popularity, which they deserve. However, it seems that a lot of fans of the new album are not recognising Masterpiece of Bitterness.
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Without a doubt this is Sólstafir's best release to date, and in my opinion one of the finest albums to grace my collection. With a much more atmospheric feel to it then any of their other releases this album flows together so perfectly, switching from fast aggressive style riffing to epic drawn out laid back sections in the blink of an eye in a beautifully constructed piece.

Contrary to popular belief this is neither a black metal album or a viking metal album, in fact you can throw a lot of genres on this band and it is very difficult to tie them down just to a single style of music; from the stoner/sludge Esq vocals, there is a psychedelic overall sound mixed in with a huge amount of atmospheric metal and the riffs contain elements of Solstafir's black metal days also it's worth nothing each song has an almost post - rock song structure, huge build ups with crushing endings.

To pick a highlight from this album is nearly impossible as each song really does have it's high points, each song has it's part on the album and it's one of the few albums I feel that nothing should be changed. Also, the second longest song on the album 'Ritual Of Fire', starts with a beautiful piece of music that sounds like it's been lifted straight from Sigur Ros's Takk, both bands are Icelandic and both albums came out in the same year, strange hey?! Well not really, must be an Icelandic thing.

I really could go on and on about this release, but for now I'll just say check it out. Even if you do dislike this album it deserves to be heard.


Download: Mediafire
Disclaimer: None of the albums I add are uploaded by myself and are intended for promotional purposes only, if you enjoy the album please support artists by buying records.



- RTG

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