World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud is the forthcoming long player from Norway’s prized Avant Norse folk duo, Solefald. Their first new studio full-length in over four years, the eight-track Metal. Kosmopolis Sud was captured in Norway and Tanzania, mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Cathedral, Angelwitch, Grave Miasma) at Orgone Studio in London and features guest appearances from drummer Baard Kolstad (Borknagar, ICS Vortex), bassist Alexander Bøe (In Vain), guitarist Petter Hallaråker (Rendezvous Point) and keyboardist Sindre Nedland (In Vain, Funeral) as well as renowned world music player Anania Ngoliga of Zanzibar on the kalimba and guitar.
With World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud, Solefald returns to 1999’s postmodern offering, Neonism, both musically and thematically. At the center of World Metal lies the idea of the “Kosmopolis,” or the “World City.” In antiquity, Athens and then Rome were seen as the capitals of the world; in modern times, cities such as Paris, London and Berlin have all competed to be the “Kosmopolis.” Fitting, then, that the album was recorded in London. Musically, the curious pair continues to challenge their listeners with a complex musical diversity that is at once stunning and startling, their unique compositions serving more as cerebral adventures than mere songs to listen to. Merging raw Norwegian metal and Dutch techno with Norse and African folk rhythms, Solefald has again manifested an out-of-the-ordinary sound. World music with blackened edges; a true celebration of global culture.
World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud will be released in North America on February 24th, 2015 via Indie Recordings. In the meantime, experience third movement, “Bububu Bad Beuys,” currently streaming HERE.
