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 Solefald - Pills Against The Ageless Ills [Century Media - 2001]Although the wave of bizarre experimental projects arisen from the Norwegian ex-black metal soil has multiplied aggressively during the last few years, Solefald will be most likely remembered as pioneers on this area, even considering the versatility and creativity of the other contesters. It's a question of denying compromises, really. Cornelius and Lazare have yet to be rivaled in their quest to fuse the chaos and brutality of extreme metal with any musical genre the general public would claim "has no place in this connection whatsoever", and in this striking originality lies the force of the duo.And speaking of this clash between the primitive, blunt surge of aggression and the subtle, colourful and at times even jolly(!) hints of musical aristocracy, the direction has become far more defined. The album as a whole is a lot more homogenous than the debut "The Linear Scaffold", where the dualism that is the band's trademark showed itself in the enormous genre differences between each song. And the (in terms of internal track composition) even more chaotic "Neonism" is not in any way comparable to this album either. It is not in the Solefald spirit to repeat themselves in any way. Such an act would imply a treason to the band's integrity and the genre as a whole.So "Pills..." is, in essence, a rock album. The skeleton of the compositions shows a basic internal structure in most tracks. No, actually, I would say that it is DISGUISED as a rock album. Power chords is the main driving force throughout "Pills...", but by far what's the primary point of interest here. What's done differently here in contrast with the previous albums is that all the out-of-place-things (i.e. organs/keyboards, blastbeats, lead guitars etc.) have been layered on top of the structure instead of intergated with the backbone. This gives a much more solid fundation. One might say the band lose their unique charm by doing this. No, I tell you, because this was exactly what had to be done in order to renew the music again. And it sure as hell works.The lyrics, too, have been put into system as well (either that or I've gotten used to them) and seem a bit more streamlined than Neonism's. For anyone who are not familiar with Cornelius' lyrical endeavours, it should be noted that existentialism vs. modern society is a key point here. The lyrics have from the very start played an enormous part in Solefald's station and immediately elevated the band from the rotten black metal pit to ambitious seekers of grand artistry. This time the album tells a story about Philosopher Fuck & Pornographer Cain, two entities that personalizes the concept of dualism: The dedicated ponderer and the lustful libertine. I'll leave the rest for you to dissolve in.What more is there to say... countless things, but I'd like to keep this a bit shorter than that. Just understand that this release, although not pompous at all, is at the absolute elite of what has come out this year so far. And that says a lot.  Jacob Avlund
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|  | | Solefald - Pills Against The Agel... | Although the wave of bizarre experimental projects arisen from the Norwegian ex-black metal soil has multiplied aggressively during the last few years, Solef...
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| | | The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H... | Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
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