As is my normal practice, I grabbed this album but didn’t read the press release until afterwards, after which time the melancholy and loss which is prevalent throughout made a great deal of sense. Back in 2006 a 14-year-old going by the pseudonym of Solemn created Sakna where he provided the material, vocals and all instruments, and commenced work on what was planned to be a five-track debut featuring an introduction, three main tracks, and an outro. He leaked an early preview of the single “Del I – Helvete” to YouTube in 2009 which gained him some notoriety in black metal circles, but not long after he had completed the recordings, he took his own life at the tender age of 18.
But that was not the end of this, as his brother S. of post-metal band Lunedi has been working through all the hard drives left behind, recovering and mixing the multi-tracks so we now have not only the original album as conceived by Solemn, but three bonus tracks including a cover of “Sóknardalr” by Windir, a band who were a major influence on Solemn.
First and foremost I did not realise this was a solo project, let alone from someone so very young and inexperienced, and I also would never have thought this had come from Canada as to me this is Scandinavian to its core. There is a huge mix of styles here, from emotive atmospheric black metal to DSBM, funeral doom, neo-folk, and dark ambient, and it definitely made me think of Burzum in the way it shifts and moves. It is incredibly emotional, and one can feel the stresses and strains within its ethereal beauty as there is a feeling of loneliness, aching and longing with a real sense of abandonment. We can go from delicate ambient acoustic picked guitar to crunching riffs and coarse vocals in a heartbeat, but it never feels rushed or falsely constructed, but rather that Solemn is following a path which is clear to him even if hidden from others, bring in influences from Windir, Mournful Congregation, Emperor, Wolves In The Throne Room, Cor Scorpii and more.
I am glad I had not read the press release prior to listening to the album as it means my views on this have not been impacted by the back story, as when I played this for the very first time I felt this was a significant album, and with its changes in dramatic emphasis and stark contrasts make for something incredibly impressive indeed. One can never know what causes people to end their lives, and these days I seem to hear more about it than I ever did when I was younger, but S. has truly paid homage to his brother for ensuring this album comes to light nearly 20 years on from when work commenced. If you are a fan of emotional black metal then there is a great deal here to take in, on many levels.
Rating: 9/10