Sólstafir was formed by 3 friends, Aðalbjörn Tryggvason, Halldór Einarsson and Guðmundur Óli Pálmason in January 1995. Later that year, the band recorded its first demo tape Í Norðri and at the end of the year recorded their second demo, Til Valhallar. Til Valhallar was never released as a demo, and four of the six songs were released as an EP by View Beyond Records. It was later re-released in 2002 with all six songs.
In 1999, Sólstafir entered the studio to record their debut full-length album. By that time Halldór had left the band, and in 1997 and 1998 Sólstafir released two promos as a two-piece. For the recording of the debut full-length, Sólstafir recruited Svavar Austmann as Halldór’s replacement. Although the recording of Í Blóði og Anda had started in 1999, the album was not released until 2002 due to endless delays and mishaps. The band truly believed they were cursed. In the meantime, Sólstafir started playing live shows in Iceland, and for that had added a second guitar player, Sæþór Maríus Sæþórsson. So, for the first time as a four-piece, Sólstafir recorded a new demo in 2002, eventually releasing 3 songs as the EP Black Death.
In 2004 the band began working on the follow up to Í Blóði og Anda on their own with the help of a good friend. Although Sólstafir were becoming a well known name in the European metal underground, the band found themselves without a recording label. Thus, the band decided to release 3 of the songs from the album as a limited edition promo to send around to labels. This, and a gig in Denmark (the band’s first outside of Iceland) ensured the band a deal with Spikefarm Records, a sub-label of Spinefarm Records.
Sólstafir released Masterpiece of Bitterness through Spinefarm in 2005. The album got exceptionally good reviews almost everywhere, and the band kept on making a good name for themselves with powerful live performances.
In December 2007, the band traveled to Göteborg, Sweden to record their third full length, Köld.
Köld was released in early 2009, and like Masterpiece… it not only got exceptionally good reviews, but most critics also had a hard time putting Sólstafir’s music into a specific genre. Descriptions like "Sounds like The Hellacopters if they went to art school and did a lot of Valium", "Imagine if Nachtmystium, Alice in Chains, and Neurosis got hammered while listening to Entombed's DCLXVI: To Ride Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth – it would sound something like this" and "Sigur Rós goes metal!" were becoming really common.
Meanwhile, Sólstafir kept getting equally as good reviews for their live shows all across mainland Europe. They have played on many of Europe’s biggest festivals, including Roskilde Festival, Wacken Open Air, Summer-Breeze Open Air, Party San Open Air, Hole in the Sky Festival etc. Sólstafir have also done two full European tours in 2009 and 2010 as well as a few shorter ones.
Sólstafir's fourth full-length album, entitled Svartir Sandar was released on Season of Mist 14 October 2011 in Europe, and 18 October in the USA. The album got exceptionally good reviews and was voted album of the year in a few esteemed publications such as Finland’s biggest metal magazine, Inferno, Germany’s Metal.de and Iceland’s biggest newspaper Morgunblaðið. It was also voted the best heavy album of the year in Finland’s biggest music magazine, Soundi. For the first time, Sólstafir also entered the charts, and Svartir Sandar topped at no. 7 in Iceland and at no. 11 in Finland. The song "Fjara" also entered the single charts and topped at number 1 in Iceland.
Before the beginning of the second leg of their European tour in January 2015, the band posted a message on Facebook saying that Pálmason would not be joining them due to "personal reasons". Guðmundur replied immediately via the band's Twitter account, explaining that he'd been "stonewalled by ex-bandmates" and "thrown out of his life's work". In the beginning of June 2015, Guðmundur offered an explanation of the events that occurred 5 months prior. In an extensive statement, he revealed the details of his "forced" departure and condemned the actions of the rest of the band, in particular Aðalbjörn Tryggvason.
Ótta
Sólstafir Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Þér fannst hann vinur þinn.
Þú klappar mér á kinn,
Hnífunum stingur inn.
Við ótta ég nú sef,
Ég ekkert lengur gef.
Ég taldi þig minn frið,
En varðst að illum sið.
The lyrics of Sólstafir's song Ótta could be interpreted in different ways, but they seem to depict a feeling of betrayal and disappointment towards a supposed friend or ally. The first line translates to "You chose this path, you found it to be your friend." The next two lines convey a physical interaction between two people, where the singer is receiving praise on the cheek and the other person's spear is piercing their hindquarters. This could symbolize the singer's vulnerability and betrayal by their friend.
In the next lines, the singer is now sleeping uneasily due to fear while the friend they trusted has turned out to be untrustworthy, for which they are no longer willing to give anything. The singer had believed that the friend was a source of peace but has now realized that their true nature is wicked. The lyrics are introspective and symbolic, leaving the listener to speculate on the specific event or relationship they describe.
Line by Line Meaning
Þú valdir þennan veg,
You chose this path,
Þér fannst hann vinur þinn.
You found it to be your friend.
Þú klappar mér á kinn,
You pat me on the cheek,
Hnífunum stingur inn.
The cold pierces within.
Við ótta ég nú sef,
I sleep with fear now,
Ég ekkert lengur gef.
I give no more.
Ég taldi þig minn frið,
I thought you were my peace,
En varðst að illum sið.
But you turned out to be of evil nature.
Contributed by Eliana O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Alisu91
English lyrics:
You chose this path,
You thought he was your friend.
You pat my cheek,
Stab the knives in.
With dread I now sleep,
I give no longer.
I thought you were my peace,
But you turned into an evil faith.
@apostolistzivleris6730
OK.So
Useful pronunciation:
http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/band/pronunci.php
http://www.nativlang.com/icelandic-language/icelandic-pronunciation.php#h31
Overall knowledge:
http://mylanguages.org/learn_icelandic.php
http://www.101languages.net/icelandic/
Endings,cases etc:
http://ielanguages.com/icelandic.html
BASIC stuff:
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Icelandic/Lesson_1
Also google translate helps some times, but youtube videos are extremely limited.If android user then make sure to download the Verb Blitz Icelandic.Amazingly useful as far as the verb part goes.
Of course there are books if you want to buy, but I haven't looked for any yet.
Also http://www.icelandic-lessons.com/ for lessons through Skype.PM me for more info about this.
@ilumsin987
How the hell can it be so brilliant ??? It's almost the same thing for 9 minutes and yet it makes me close my eyes, drop all my tears, and headbang like I'm crazy...all at the same time...! No seriously, Solstafir, if you can hear me, please, NEVER stop playing music ! It's just too good.
@jabcam634
+Alexia Cazamea My feelings exactly. I just recently tried to describe what it sound like and... well, "It's almost the same thing for 9 minute". Funny. Good music hits!
@vyrnius
but the emotion they are spreading through their songs are the same thing for 9 minutes
and in this thing solstafir are simply masters: expressing emotion
@gilbertfontainedelatourdha4138
Relax, bitch. You're trying too hard.
@JClebelge
same for me, especially in this sad part of my life!
@sams901
Icelandic music is brilliant in its own irreplicable way
:)
@BurpleRX7
People criticising the song for being a bit predictable or basic do not understand the intention of the song, not every band wants to create a technical masterpiece that wows musicians and special wine drinkers,
Sometimes a band just wants to make a cool song with some emotion, and I am more than happy to listen to that song.
@provst1
sometimes less is more.
@mr.d.572
I'm so tired of super fast wankery. There's a place for it but there's too much of it out there.
@user-ck1hp8bn2j
I discovered this song after a party and me and my current gf at the time came home and laid on the couch. Put youtube on the tv and this came on. We both sat up and listened astonished. This song will always be connected to that moment for me. Hope that lady is doing well.