Sól án Varma - Self-Titled

Rebirth through destruction.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on March 20th 2024) 

Supergroups tend to be quite the big gamble. More often than not they feel like entities founded on their members’ fame, and the results produced from these bands are more often than not half-hearted imitations of older sounds, rather than something that one would expect from musicians of such a calibre. That being said, there are exceptions to every rule, and one of them is Sól án varma, an entity that, considering how many people are involved in it, could be considered a supergroup to end all supergroups. The Icelandic black metal scene is quite incestuous, with artists getting together on multiple different projects, so it’s no surprise that some of the country’s most wanted decided to get together for a work of this scope. “So, how did it turn out?”, I hear you asking. Well, it’s pretty damn good, I’ll tell you what.

For how many cooks are involved here, Sól án varma’s broth is everything but spoiled. Though there are hints of other Icelandic bands to be found throughout, there is an undercurrent of blackened doom running through it all, filtered through the scene’s unique penchant for dissonant melodies, oxymoronic as that might sound. “II” is the first contact we have with this particular approach, following the foreboding crawl of the opener, and it’s an excellent tonal counterpoint, with the group slowly showing its hand over its near 10-minute runtime. It goes through a lot of motifs and styles that in a vacuum aren’t too much of a surprise, but the context in which they’re twisted and contorted makes for an entirely unique experience, owing in part to the production. Misþyrming’s D.G. is behind the board yet again, and his approach to sound really adds to Sól án varma’s sound. It’s overwhelming in how claustrophobic it feels, yet at the same time it inspires this feeling of hovering in a pitch-black void with how vast it sounds, thanks to the reverb on the instruments, not to mention the excellent mixing. It all sounds so rich and full, all while maintaining an organic feel with plenty of texture.

Another aspect of the record worth praise is just how tightly paced it is. Despite clocking in at 67 minutes I find it hard to think of a moment that either feels out of place or that doesn’t connect to the rest. From “III”‘s droning ambience and spoken word and the warbled chanting and angular guitar melodies of “V”, to the churning arpeggios found on “VII” and the drum showcase of “VIII”, it all flows together perfectly. Not to mention nearly every song transitions into each other through either feedback or choirs. Granted, the ambient “XII” does feel like a strange end, especially after the explosive climax of the song that preceded it, but I can acknowledge its place in the album’s concept of a world falling into ruin.

Sól án varma feels like an entire scene’s labour of love. It’s a collaborative effort that uses all these different moving parts that are familiar to anyone acquainted with the artists’ main bands, but it combines them in such a way that results in something entirely unique. Not only is it a landmark for the Icelandic black metal scene, but also the culmination of a decade’s worth of albums across an incomprehensible amount of bands. Instead of the music cannibalising itself and being reduced to retreads of other works to come out of the country it becomes something more, all while retaining the things that make it a distinctly Icelandic project. The spirit of an entire community is in this, and I can’t help but love it for that.

Highlights: I, V, VII, X

Rating: 95%