March was a month that, musically speaking, just drifted by for me. I listened mostly to my personal classics and ignored new releases. However, when I saw a slew of people recommending melodic black metal of a cold and wintry nature, I had to stop and take a look. That’s how I hit play on Sól Tér Sortna by Istapp, which I later found out translates to The Sun Turns Black by Icicle. With a name like that, you know they’re serious about the whole frostbitten thing.
Funnily enough, that doesn’t quite reach Istapp‘s music. Oh, the guitars are appropriately glacial but there’s a warm, triumphant emotional tone to Sól Tér Sortna that dominates the record. Even when there’s actual wind effects in the song to help convey that Fimbul Winter chill as with “Ragnarök”, the fist pumping folk elements are, well, a ray of blackened sunshine. Please do not confuse my enjoyment of the irony as any sort of criticism though for Sól Tér Sortna is immensely listenable. Istapp have a direct, hooky, folk-tinged approach to black metal that comes across as a medley of the genre’s greatest hits at times. The infectious future crowd favorite “Kallbrand” has a certain Immortal vibe to it, opener “Under Jökelisen” sounds like a jolly Windir, while the aforementioned “Ragnarök” reminds me of Moonsorrow at their most battle ready. Yet despite being able to discuss Istapp in terms of bands that came before, the whole comes together to form a cohesive, balanced identity that is very much Istapp‘s own and their craftmanship is equal to any of them.
It’s that sense of balance that has really got me more and more into Sól Tér Sortna with each listen. Istapp use the different elements in their sound to balance the album out and avoid being too cheesy or simple, while still being more catchy and epic than they have any right to be. Many bands try to deliver a formula like this but few succeed like Istapp have. The end result is a slab of meloblack that demands attention from start to finish and is probably the best melodic release of the year so far so if that’s your jam, you stop for Istapp and thank me later.
