Why the hell isn’t anyone in America talking about Solefald? Their full-length Norrøn Livskunst was the most criminally underrated album of 2010, and now they’ve got a new full-length, and once again nobody is talking about this brilliant duo.World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud is unmistakably the work of this avant-garde Viking metal oddity. It’s got catchy riffs, both high-speed black metal style and slower stomps. It’s got growled and sung vocals, with infectious melodies. And then, it’s got everything else thrown in to make it insane.
The “world metal” idea comes through mostly in the form of tribal percussion. Check “World Music with Black Edges” (my favorite song so far this year) for a whole lot of that. The most extreme example, “Bububu Bad Beuys,” sounds like one of those metal/tribal freakouts Sepultura did in the early 90’s, but filtered through Norwegian madness.
Elsewhere, they use piano, electronics (even dubstep, but not in a bad way) and friggin’ xylophones. This is unironically melded with soaring vocals (not unlike Vintersorg’s) and fused to an aggressive Viking metal backbone. The majority of the album is in the black/Viking metal vein, in the catchiest possible way, but with those added elements that make it really stand out.
You have to hear it. You will love it.
The Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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