Album review: Istapp – Sól Tér Sortna

Band: Istapp
Title: Sól Tér Sortna
Label: Trollzorn Records
Release date: 06/03/2025
Country: Sweden
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

Album review: Istapp – Sól Tér Sortna via Trollzorn Records by #Consanguineus

This year, Istapp celebrates its 20th anniversary, and throughout all these years, the band has been engaged in its battle against the sun. For them, our light- and warmth-giving celestial body at the center of our solar system is the ultimate enemy. The men of Istapp prefer darkness and cold, and they make sure we know it. To them, the Fimbulwinter is the ideal weather condition.

With Sól Tér Sortna, the Swedes deliver their fourth album. Stylistically, it’s bombastic melodic black metal hink of (old) Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, and, especially in the vocals, early Satyricon. Their productions are top-notch, yet they haven’t fully broken through in the genre.

Right from the opener “Under Jökelisen,” the band makes a strong entrance, immediately showcasing what they have to offer. Folky guitar riffs, powerful drumming, keyboards, and a dramatic clean vocal section all present. And despite all this “cheerfulness,” the raw edge of black metal still shines through in the underlying layers.

During Nifelheim, the folk elements become even more pronounced, with the clean vocals playing a particularly important role. At times, it slightly reminds me of Helheim. However, for my taste, the lead guitar is a bit too prominent in the mix, which starts to become slightly irritating.

With Grýla, things take a more bombastic and darker turn. In terms of screams, it’s the most convincing track on the album perhaps even the highlight of the record. In Icelandic folklore, Grýla is a terrifying female monster, essentially an ogre, who lives in the Icelandic mountains. The legend of Grýla dates back many centuries and has long been used to strike fear into the hearts of Icelanders.

The fast-paced Frostdraken much like Grýla leaves you wanting more. Here, things get even more intense, as they do on the title track, which keeps charging forward relentlessly.

With this fourth album, Istapp firmly establishes itself as one of the better bands in the melodic black metal scene. Even though my personal preference generally leans more toward rawer and more obscure black metal acts, I still thoroughly enjoyed this album. 8/10

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8/10  To Greatness and Glory!
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