There’s something about hearing sounds that reflect the place it is from, that warms the heart like nothing else. While this music is of a different region, an instant nostalgic feeling crept in on the land of my birth, which is the Bavarian area of Germany. Aside the emotion, and a name which depicts an idea of honouring the Sun, it was instantly difficult to not form any bias opinion and offer an honest depiction of the impact of this music.
What became more difficult, is they did not give me a reason to critique, beyond having a sound that is easily identifiable. Sure, theirs a small precious number of projects that are not reminiscent to someone else. This is, after all, acoustic music with the native tongue of Swedish, and songs very likely about ancestral worship. Not speaking the native tongue, it is difficult to discern the actual themes, but with the name and sound it seems fairly obvious. So this does not stand out dramatically from other acts, and it does not need to. It does what it needs to do, take a sound and do it well. This in itself is a different approach, that creates a musical format which does not need to stand out, and is quite comfortable fitting in actually; yet somehow it still is completely honest in its choice of sound and none of this seems to be any concern.
If you appreciate music that is performed with clean vocals in a non-English language, acoustic guitars, and accordion, this is for you. It is safe to say that most reading this will know exactly what they are getting into by listening to this, and at times not having any surprises can be relaxing. I refrain from mentioning any bands in particular, this is simply what one would expect from a Neo-folk band. You either know the genre or you do not. This is simply well written music that is very connected with its ancestry, and for those of us who currently love this kind of thing, Solblot will just be another band amongst many who we put in when other similar artists become overplayed, or they will be the one that is overplayed and the vice versa will become true.
The only thing that holds this back is the listener has to be in the mood for exactly this style of Neo-folk. For those of us who enjoy a wide variety of music, any band that does not stand out from its form becomes one in a many to choose from. The contents themselves though, are strong enough to withstand this, for while the music is familiar, it is also superb. Nothing bad can be said about playing a particular style, as long as it is done with the ability to do it well. This they do, with acoustic guitar in fine form creating the background for the strong dialect of clean male vocals, accordion, and songs that do not need to be translated to want to sing along with. This is safe, you know what you are getting into, and if you want to hear more of a very distinct style of music, they are on the top of the list.
Rating: 5/5
Written by: Patrick Bertlein
Label (s) : Heiðrunar Myrkrunar – HEIM011 Solvännen– SOL001 / Format: CD
Tracklisting:
01 Himladrottningens bild i Heda
02 Paradisets timma
03 Kommer aldrig solen?
04 En dag I
05 En dag II
06 Sommarljuset
07 Åkallan & löfte
08 Drömsyn på ängen
09 Barrikadsång
10 Medborgarsång
11 Ålderdomen
