Sólstafir’s newest album Köld (which was basically released a year ago) continues the formula with slight changes here and there. Their sound is taken further. What’s notable from the get-go is that there seems to be a new leaning towards ‘80s pop. And by that I don’t mean they’ve gone all Duran Duran, but the production has that nostalgic, open feel to it and the songs do contain elements I remember from the music videos I watched as a kid. While the band’s metalness might have shifted away from the spotlight of the stadiums, the mentality is still very much present within the songs and it’s safe to say that the band’s origin can be easily heard. Even so, with the evolution taking place and with Sólstafir’s black metal days further adrift, the band remains true to them, still sounding very much like Sólstafir.

The song material and presentation is once again interesting throughout. Ranging from quiet to loud, slow to fast, personal to universal; the whole spectrum is contained within the 70 minutes of music. And that number, 70, should be an indication that this isn’t for the fast-food inclined. The album and its music is intense, even at times when the organized chaos is subdued as is the case with the mid-point song “Necrologue” that reminds me of Nine Inch Nails’ more emotional and quiet anthems. But in general, Köld brings Finland’s post-rock pioneer Magyar Posse and, especially, their Kings of Time album to mind.

The influences the band has incorporated are plenty and each track seems to have its own set. It’s not just the music that helps to sell the mix; Aðalbjörn Tryggvason’s vocals are worthy of a mention alone as they too, do go through the whole mental spectrum, from screams to clean-sung moments where the rasp brings an overburdened emotion forth. The guy’s material would do justice to any Neurosis recording.

As perfect as I might make Köld seem, it’s not a flawless album. The aforementioned 70-minute length has its toll; not all the moments are as sharp as they could be and some trimming and adjusting might have given it a bit more of an impact dramatically. But it’s hard to hold that against the album, as when you’re open to its call, it will lure you in to its world. The album might not be as good as the one before, but quite frankly, I don’t care as this beast is somewhat different and thus defends its own existence. Especially when the band has achieved so much musically and this is just their third full-length.

While the ‘80s influenced post-rock, spiced with progressive ideas and most of all Ennio Morricone could be considered to be in connection with Iceland, its past and the awesome beauty the land holds, I think Köld points to the probability of the exact opposite.

The album paints an image of the desolate land, plagued by the ever-growing virus that is shortsighted industrialization; full of emptiness covered in metal, rust and dust. What once was a land of natural beauty, has now been assimilated by the mechanical touch of the humankind. There’s a craving of the old, better days, better ways. To me, this becomes apparent with the song “World Void of Souls”, where the listener sits around campfire and the narrator recollects the beauty in the midst of all the colorless, black and white days that blend seamlessly together.

On Köld, Sólfstafir pictures what lies tomorrow for Iceland, with its massive land altering projects, naive politicians and bankrupt economy of aluminum dreams; Köld becomes the Nordic Blade Runner. And I adore Blade Runner.

Playing a tried and true form of Gothic Doom Metal, Saattue prove that patience and experience pay off in the end as this is a fantastic album. While not offering much in the way of new influences or textures (aside from all the lyrics being sung in Finnish), one can hear elements of bands like Rapture, early Paradise Lost & even hints of early Amorphis running through the music…some more prominent than others yet never truly aping any one band.

The vocals are a blend of low death growls, shouted/sung aggression and clean, somber melodies. The tones are thick and monstrous. There are spots of piano interplay and female vocals here and there, but never overdone. As was mentioned, all the lyrics are in Finnish but this does nothing to distract one’s attention from the music on offer… there’s instead a kind of sincerity and pride about it all. I much prefer a band singing in their home language as opposed to choppy English interpretations and heavily accented delivery. The album as a whole has a very stark, hopeless vibe.

Saattue are a band most worthy of attention, Doom fans and non-Doom fans alike. It’s just a very, very good album. It’s moody, it’s sad, it’s dark, it’s heavy and you want it. Trust me.

Produced at Sundi Coop (Ensiferum, Rapture, Finntroll, Shape of Despair, Norther, Moonsorrow) Noumena has the familiar Finnish crunch that most of the bands above have already mastered, so Noumena’s lush, thick sound is welcoming and warm. However, With the addition of clean female vocals from the angelic Hanna Leinonen and guest clean vocals on some of the tracks from Fall of the Leafe’s Tuomas Tuominen, there’s plenty of variety amid the mid-paced chugging as first evidenced on first standouts “Everlasting Word” and “Slain Memories”, where Tuominen and Leinonen inject some classy elegance amid Antti Haapanen typically gruff yet eloquent growls. As with their peers, there’s a solid mix of upbeat though still depressive numbers (“The First Drop”, “A Day to Depart”, “Prey of the Tempter”, “Here We Lie”, “All Veiled”) and more somber, balladic tracks that mostly feature the guest vocalists (“Everlasting Word”, “Slain Memories”, “The Dream and the Escape”, “The Great Anonymous Doom”). The slower, more varied tracks are the standouts as they break up the Rapture/Insomnium worship a bit with a little Fin-Goth appeal and because Tuomas Tuominen has such a unique voice.

Even with the heavy handed, obvious influences mentioned (Antti Haapanen is a little too much like ex-Amorphis/Shape of Despair’s Pasi Koskinen), Noumena still stands out as a classy, high end act that has room to improve and develop their own sound. I found them to display the perfect Finnish balance of beauty and bestial that will hold me over until the next Insomnium record and displace my slight disappointment at Rapture’s Silent Stage.