08. Sólstafir - 'Endless Twilight of Codependent Love'

Placing Sólstafir albums in order is like watching a stop motion documentary of the evolution of their career. Each record is sonically connected to the last, but also each record sees them take stylistic leaps into the unknown. “Endless Twilight of Codependent Love” is their most insular and self-contained record. It lacks the expansive windswept beauty of “Otto” and has dispensed with the almost AOR stylings of “Berdreyminn”. 

Instead the band have scaled things back and created a beautiful fragile record that embraces their post-rock influences. It is distinctly Sólstafir, but more refined, more removed and much more emotionally wrought and vulnerable. Essentially this is a comedown album. The party is over, and the band are now slowly picking their way through the detritus of their lives. It is much slighter and more withdrawn than before. Sólstafir never produced happy music but this is distinctly melancholic. 

However, it is still an absolutely wonderful, heart-wrenching and soul-churning record that buries itself deep into your psyche. This is emotion and heartache distilled into music and yet again Sólstafir prove that they are a unique and singular force in our world. Who says Heavy Metal can not be delicate and heart-breaking?