label: Peaceville Records
format: 12"LP
year: 2016
country: Norway
genre: avantgarde black metal
Black Vinyl. The classic debut album from Solefald, originally released in 1997, now issued on vinyl for the first time.
Solefald (the name taken from the Old Norse word for sunset) formed in Norway in 1995 by members Lars Are "Lazare" and Cornelius Jakhelln. The band didn't fit in with conventional genre labelling, possessing a keen dedication towards experimentation, and were classified as avant-garde Black Metal.
The Linear Scaffold, the band's debut full-length album, was originally released in 1997. It was seen as a breakthrough in Black Metal at the time incorporating countless fresh ideas such as jazz influenced guitar passages and alternative instruments such as piano to concoct an intriguing atmosphere altogether different from many of their peers.
Still fresh sounding, the album stands out with its use of dynamic twists and poetic imagery from the words of Cornelius, further enhanced with the inclusion of Lord Byron's When The Moon Is On The Wave.
Aside from both members' work with other bands, including Borknagar and Winds, Cornelius is an accomplished writer/poet, with many published writings including a tetralogy of poems entitled Quadra Natura.