Debiut Sol An Varma już za tydzień

 

Sól án varma, translated Sun without radiance, is a 70 minute long piece written and performed by a select few notorious names from the Icelandic black metal underground. Founded by T.Í. and D.G. (members of Misþyrming, Naðra, Núll, Drottinn, etc.), prominent personnel of the Icelandic Vánagandr elite, Sól án varma is more of an conceptual idea rather than a band or a side project.

Originally, Sól án varma, was commissioned as a special one-of-a-kind show for Roadburn Festival 2018. The 70 minute piece has neither been heard before nor since this special performance.

Having hosted Misþyrming as “Artist in Residence” at the festival two years prior, Walter Hoeijmakers, Roadburn director wanted the Icelandic musicians to bring a new and compelling phenomenon to the table for the 2018 edition of the festival. After a meeting with Walter in Iceland in 2017, D.G. and T.Í. put together a unit of carefully selected musicians to form what would later become the Sól án varma concept. These members are: G.E. (Misþyrming, Naðra, Svartidauði), Á.B.Z. (Carpe Noctem, Árstíðir Lífsins), M.S. (Svartidauði, Drottinn), S.V. (Svartidauði, Drottinn) and H.V. (Wormlust).

After a long and intensive writing and rehearsing period, the group premiered the piece at the Roadburn Festival 2018 in front of three-thousand fans in the 013-Venue in Tilburg.

A year after the performance, the group decided to make the piece immortal by putting it into a properly presentable recorded format. The group entered the studio and tracked down most of the instrumentals over a course of five weeks. Due to being very busy with their other projects, the musicians put the recordings on a hiatus which would take almost one and a half year, unexpectedly.

As plague hit the world, the group saw an opportunity to resume their work on the album and finished the recordings in December 2020. Onward into the year 2021, Sól án varma was mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano. Cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu and layout designed by Andri Þór Jóhannsson.

Sól án varma is undeniably one of the most ambitious recording projects that has materialised in the Icelandic black metal scene. The album is due out in December 2022 via Ván Records.