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5 rock solid reasons Adam Levine is wrong that ‘There Aren’t Any Bands Anymore’

Posted by Morgan Y Evans - Walking Bombs on Friday, March 5, 2021 at 12:01 PM (PST)

Hail The Sun…are a band.
Image credit: Lindsey Byrnes

Corporate clown Adam Levine (of Moron 5) recently did one of this oh so bold “rock is dead because I can’t tie my own shoes’ moments and said that he doesn’t feel like there are bands anymore. He told Zane Lowe that there aren’t enough in the pop limelight even if there are still some around, but doesn’t see how his watered down brand of commercial rock which promotes the gatekeeping of the industry via very narrow creative standards has contributed to the problem. This is also to say nothing of the fact that rock radio was intentionally killed off years ago.

Also, isn’t Adam in a band or is he admitting they are a formula?

It doesn’t help that mainstream press acts like no albums in rock came out after admittedly huge and impressive OK Computer or Toxicity or whatever 20 years ago (with the rare token rock nod to Greta Van Fleet or whoever). Even really incredibly nuanced and terrific rock records paired with an entire documentary on American music history like Sonic Highways by the massive Foo Fighters that do help keep rock somewhat noticed get hipster scrutinized to shreds in an effort to suck the life out of them for clicks while subpar indie formula trash gets ass licked or we elevate fucking Tekashi69. Zoomers acting like emulating 00’s Paris Hilton fashion is the new “alternative” is not exactly revolutionary either. And while she may think that she is well intentioned, Miley Cyrus ripping off Plasmatics and Celtic Frost art while covering all the most basic hit songs from any 90’s band isn’t really doing it for me.

Adam Levine should have used his platform instead like Ke$ha who has recently boosted acts from Royal Thunder to Voivod! Not to mention she made the best pop crossover album of 2020 as well with High Road! THAT is what I am talking about. I certainly don’t like when bands act like we have to eradicate pop or rap or other genres but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fight for rock and let it be announced as DOA by lazy types like Levine who have massive industry privilege but barely use it for anything other than to bloviate and (formerly) “judge” people on bad tv shows.

Here are a few crucial current bands who truly ought to be on your radar. Put some respect on their names BELOW.

More On: Hard Rock, Exclusive, , Season of Mist

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Sólstafir have released the video for “Bláfjall”

Posted by Morgan Y Evans - Walking Bombs on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 1:19 PM (PST)

photo by Snorri Sturluson

In support of their exceptionally good Beredreyminn release, Icelandic post-rock band Sólstafir have released a characteristically cinematic video for “Bláfjall” via Classic Rock Magazine HERE.

SÓLSTAFIR comment: “Here it is, our 3rd video by the almighty Bowen Staines. After we did our last video with Bowen, ‘Lágnætti,’ we talked about for years to make another video together. As usual, adventures are like magnets when we join up forces, and this one was no different. We are super proud of the result, and yet again, Bowen shows that he is the master of this game. Enjoy, ‘Bláfjall.'”

Director Bowen Staines adds: “‘Bláfjall’ was produced and filmed in Iceland from August – October 2018, and edited until April 2019 at the Don’t Panic Films studio in Massachusetts. While originally shot in 4K, the finished product was then scanned in its entirety onto 35mm film. ‘Bláfjall’ tells the story of a mind overtaken with grief, and the mental gymnastics often employed to circumvent grief in order to avoid confronting it.

“Everyone has their secret sorrows which the world knows not; wounds that never show on the body. In ’Bláfjall,’ these wounds take the form of memories relived in the present, yet altered by the knowledge of what will come in the future. If grief were sentient, it would attack these memories with the voracity of a virus slowly destroying a computer hard drive, or an illness ravaging a body.

“Pre-production for ‘Bláfjall’ started almost two years ago, and the first day of principal photography began in Hvalfjörður, Southwest Iceland. Predictably, it was so windy (a 115kg dolly track blew over), that I had to rewrite that day’s five-page shotlist in the trunk of Addis’s Jeep.

“The rest of the video came together wonderfully, thanks to our cast of Flosi Þorgeirsson (HAM, Glerakur), Bella Morgan, Palli Banine, and Minerva Geirdal. The only other notable thing that happened during this production were the days leading up to crashing that infamous Mercedes.

“The car was an automatic, and the transmission slipped like butter. The momentum from the slightest forward acceleration, say, at a stoplight, would send the gearshift flying back into first gear, and the engine redlining; there is no sound quite like doing 40 on the highway in first gear. I was heading to pick up Flosi in Reykjavík, when suddenly I was doing 60kph in reverse while still going forwards, with the whole car transforming into an industrial noise album.

“The day we filmed the crash, we’d spent hours lining the car up, bracing the steering wheel properly, and closing the roads. It looked like it was dead-on, and then it wasn’t. It missed the other car by centimeters, veered off the road, hit an embankment on the side of a someone’s driveway, cleared the entire driveway, went through a fence, and crashed into a rock in front of a horse stable. The next try was dead-on.

“A heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to everyone who was involved with the making of Sólstafir’s ‘Bláfjall.’ To the guys in the band: thank you for trusting me so unconditionally, and allowing me to tell this story with your music. As always, it is a true pleasure to create with you.

“We hope that you enjoy watching this as much as we enjoyed making it.
Takk fyrir okkur.”

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More On: Black Metal, Video, Solstafir, Season of Mist

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Solstafir announce US tour with Paradise Lost

Posted by longhairedpoet on Friday, July 13, 2018 at 5:34 PM (PST)

Icelandic metallers Solstafir have announced they will be embarking on a US tour in support of Paradise Lost.

Paradise Lost and Solstafir will also be joined on the tour by Atlas Moth.

Solstafir are touring in support of their new album, Berdreyminn. The album, produced by Birgir Birgirsson (Sigur Ros, Alcest) and Jaime Gomez-Arellano (Ghost, Paradise Lost, Ulver).

Solstafir will also be embarking on a European tour starting on November 20.

You can head over to Solstafir’s bandcamp to stream Berdreyminn.

Check out the full list of tour dates and the video for the song “Hula” here.

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More On: Black Metal, Tour, Solstafir, Season of Mist

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Icelandic rock band SÓLSTAFIR’s ‘Berdreyminn’ is almost here

Posted by Morgan Y Evans - Walking Bombs on Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 2:57 PM (PST)

There are some records I have been waiting for a long time, such as Blackguard’s troubled Storm. Others that are in progress but aren’t near to being done such as the next Wax Idols, for example. Then there are bands like Icelandic rock band SÓLSTAFIR who I don’t follow super closely but am certainly a true fan of. Everything they have done has been stellar and moving stuff, like a kind of Sigur Rós with black metal roots.

I met a film director the other day rocking one of their t shirts and we had a spirited discussion about how great they are. This made me also recall that they had sorted some inner band issues and have a new record almost upon us. In fact, it is called Berdreyminn and is due this May 26th! This one seems to also explore some more of their hard rock influences, but in very non conformist ways.

The album, produced by Birgir Birgirsson (SIGUR RÓS, ALCEST) and Jaime Gomez-Arellano (GHOST, PARADISE LOST, ULVER), is lauded as “a compelling journey that offers ’80’s-style synths, chuggy rock riffing, Pink Floyd-y prog overtones, sweeping Fields of the Nephilim guitars, haunting orchestral arrangements and occasional metallic crunch” (Decibel Magazine) and is available across multiple formats at the Season of Mist E-Shop.

SÓLSTAFIR recently unveiled all of the stunning new music from Berdreyminn. The album stream appears alongside an interview with vocalist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason at Noisey. Dive into another special experience from this smart and original group pushing the boundaries of our scene now.

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More On: Progressive Metal, Release, Solstafir, Season of Mist

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We will not do what they want or do what they say: Don’t Back Down Now!

Posted by Morgan Y Evans - Walking Bombs on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at 5:21 PM (PST)

I’m not just saying this to promote MY records or anyone’s really specifically, but here is a thought on art in general. Music can bring people together of many cultures. It is very hard for artists to have a sustainable career when no one purchases their art, even if they work hard. You can only get so far without support. Now, Ariana Grande or Eagles Of Death Metal have lots of fans, BUT…if fear and terror starts also cutting in to concert attendance and (unlikely, but) somehow dented it enough, that is a direct assault on culture exchange. The arts struggle enough. The whole idea of a starving artist being more valid is masochistic and puts artists at a huge disadvantage when many of them already have a lot on their plate already as sensitive or tuned in souls.

A great refutation of ideology you don’t like, be it violence or even a political movement or corporation you are against, is to vote with your dollars. Buy organic food, etc. Do what you can. I would hope the deaths of the music fans of Ariana Grande in Manchester , some with their whole lives ahead of them now stolen, might move some of you to go out and purchase a work of art, a shirt, a book, a movie, a record or something to help further the arts and to ESPECIALLY keep music, loud unabashedly alive music of any genre (except NSBM, duh), blasting in the faces of those who see it as a threat to divisions or who don’t want sexual, racial or social mores or gender roles to evolve. One love. PMA. Our hearts at Metal Riot go out to Ariana and her fans. What a sick, sad fucking senseless thing.

Here are a few recommendations of artists of different genres, races, genders and spiritual backgrounds we suggest you support and show that humanity will NOT be thrown backwards, be it by xenophobic Trumpster Divers (supporting only Arab nations you make money off of doesn’t count, Conald Chump/Trump), radical terror groups like Isis or whoever the fuck tries to front on unity and love:

Lizzo: https://twitter.com/lizzo

Tommy Genesis world wide: https://twitter.com/brasil_tommy

Solstafir: https://twitter.com/solstafiroffcal

Lara Hope and The Arktones: https://www.larahopeandtheark-tones.com/

Downtown Boys: https://twitter.com/DowntownBoys

Flatfoot 56: https://www.flatfoot56.com/

VOWWS: https://twitter.com/vowwsband

Here is what the coverage will not say: targeting an Arianna Grande concert is targeting young women. This is a violent act of misogyny.

— ❄️Jaclyn Friedman❄️ (@jaclynf) May 23, 2017

broken.
from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words.

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017

Today we stand in solidarity and defiance with the people of our city. Never in fear, we will endure… One &… https://t.co/IHhyeF4pxe

— Winterfylleth (@Winterfylleth) May 23, 2017

I am so sick of reading headlines like this. We as a race, THE HUMAN RACE, have to do better than this. A music concert is supposed to be a place where people gather to forget their problems for a few hours, not somewhere to roll the dice with your life. At times like this, I think the only thing a normal person can do is try to be the best, most moral, human they can be- in our jaded era, I believe this is more necessary than ever. For instance, this evening after I read this headline, I ran into a very loose acquaintance at the grocery store & mentioned the news. This person joked "Maybe they did it because it was an Ariana Grande show." I was too shocked to even say anything- I utterly fail to find the humor in the fact that at least 19 people are dead & many more injured, whatever you may think of someone's music. I know nothing about Ariana Grande or any of her songs, but I can guarantee that people of many different races, religions, & beliefs were at that show for the same reason- to have a good time. Some of them won't go home tonight. This is not fucking funny to me. This sort of jaded, joking, mentality is evidence to me of the continual chipping away of our humanity by the pathetically low standards of our era. We are better than this, people. It's dehumanizing, just like the freakish & twisted beliefs that allowed this asshole terrorist to kill a bunch of people they didn't know. Everything you do & say has consequences, even if you don't believe that. Make sure you do your best to think & speak with a moral heart- maybe your kindness will prevent someone from going down a dark path- you never know who you may effect positively. My thoughts & prayers are with y'all in the U.K. tonight.

A post shared by D. Randall Blythe (@drandallblythe) on May 22, 2017 at 7:06pm PDT

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More On: xx No Genre xx, General News, Solstafir, Season of Mist

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Sólstafir stream new track, “Bláfjall”

Posted by Morgan Y Evans - Walking Bombs on Saturday, March 25, 2017 at 10:16 AM (PST)

Outlandish and mysterious Icelandic rock band SÓLSTAFIR are streaming the second new track off their new album Berdreyminn. The album closer titled “Bláfjall” is streaming now both at the indie music outlet Brooklyn Vegan and metal site Invisible Oranges.

It seems the Guðmundur Óli Pálmason situation, though certainly stressful for all parties, did not stop the remaining members from creating new, strong art. This latest song is more driving than recent material with am interesting, proggy/classic rock bent. The vocals seem more pained. I can’t stop listening to it, frankly. Very cool.

Regarding the new track, SÓLSTAFIR vocalist/guitarist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason comments on the personal meaning behind the track and its intent: “The meaning of ‘Bláfjall’ is blue – as in a black, black mountain, and it revolves around man’s battle against his own mind and those inner demons that often lead to self-destruction and harming one’s loved ones. I have myself struggled with alcoholism and it remains a never-ending battle and continuously walking further up a mountain in foggy darkness. But this is also about hope, because there is a way out, but you have to grab that rope when it comes swinging towards you and hold on to it as tight as you can. Everybody can end up lost on the black mountain, or ‘Bláfjall’ in this case.“

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More On: Folk Metal, Music, Solstafir, Season of Mist

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SOLSTAFIR premiere new video for “Miðaftann” with NPR

Posted by Metal Riot on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 1:09 PM (PST)

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Enigmatic Icelandic rock band SOLSTAFIR have seen the release of a new video for the track “Miðaftann”. The video, directed by Harri Haataja and Vesa Ranta, is streaming now at NPR.

Regarding the video, SOLSTAFIR guitarist/frontman Aðalbjörn Tryggvason comments, “The track is about wandering in darkness. Playing chess with Death, getting burned by salt, drowning in the ultimate wave of sin and returning back home by using moonlight as navigation.”

Video directors Harri Haataja and Vesa Ranta comment, “They told us a real-life story about a sailor who lost his crew at sea and was stranded to shore as the only survivor,” the directors write. “He proceeded to find his way to town and [along the way] he found a barrel filled with water. But the water was frozen, so he had to punch through the ice with his bare hands to fight the dehydration. Eventually, after a long journey, he found his way to town and survived.”

“Miðaftann” is taken from SOLSTAFIR’s critically acclaimed new album , ‘Otta’. The album, which has made Decibel Magazine’s top 40 albums of 2014, is streaming here, and is available now at the Season of Mist E-shop.

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More On: Black Metal, Music, Solstafir, Season of Mist

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Roadburn to host doom poets SubRosa, now offer 2x the Sólstafir Viking action

Posted by Morgan Y Evans - Walking Bombs on Thursday, October 9, 2014 at 6:53 AM (PST)

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SubRosa, Kayo Dot, Lord Mantis, KEN mode, Botanist, and Lazer/Wulf have also been confirmed for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival

Iceland natives Sólstafir will perform their unique take of a completely instrumental film score, to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the cult-classic Viking movie, Hrafninn Flýgur (When The Raven Flies) by director Hrafn Gunnlaugsson at Roadburn Festival 2015 on Thursday, April 9 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.Premiered at Reykjavik’s International Film Festival last week, this will be the first time that Sólstafir will play their live score, in real time while screening Hrafninn Flýgur from start to finish, outside of Iceland, offering our beloved attendees the chance to experience Gunnlaugsson’s epic tale in an entire new dimension on the main stage.

The 20th edition of Roadburn is going to be a treat for those who love soundtracks, as in addition to Sólstafir performing an instrumental soundtrack to Hrafninn Flýgur, Claudio Simonetti‘s Goblin will perform their much acclaimed movie scores for Dawn Of The Dead and Suspiria at the 2015 festival.

On, Friday, April 11, Sólstafir will be part of Houses of the Holistic, Ivar Bjørnson‘s (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik‘s curated Roadburn event.

We are also very excited to announce that acclaimed American doom quintet SubRosa will make its Roadburn debut at the 20th edition of the festival on Thursday, April 9, 2015. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, SubRosa quickly made a name for itself in the wake of 2011’s No Help For The Mighty Ones and 2013’s universally praised More Constant Than The Gods, thanks to the band’s spellbinding blend of pulverizing doom, gothic atmosphere, and touches of Americana.

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More On: Folk Metal, Tour, Subrosa, Profound Lore Records

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Season of Mist Mega-Post: New music from Solstafir, Tsjuder, and Arckanum

Posted by jessepac on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 11:13 AM (PST)

Every once in awhile on Metal Riot, we want to take the time to give you a lot of information on not just the bands that make metal so great, but the labels as well. Today, we have four bands from the Season of Mist label that all have some excellent stuff for you to check out, including some new music from Solstafir, Tsjuder, and Arckanum, as well as album art for all three and Esoteric.

First off, here is the newest track from Tsjuder entitled “The Daemon Throne” from the upcoming album Legion Helvete. Next up is “Fjara” by Solstafir and finally we have “Svartr ok Þursligr” by Arckanum.

Check out the photo gallery below for album art from all four bands!

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More On: Black Metal, Music, Solstafir, Season of Mist

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