Fredrik Thordendal's "Sol Niger Within" is an album that defies easy categorization. It is a unique blend of metal, jazz, and experimental elements, making it both challenging and rewarding for listeners. This article delves into the intricacies of this groundbreaking album, exploring its background, musical style, and lasting impact.
The Genesis of Sol Niger Within
Well Fredrik Thordendal’s Special Defects is basically a solo project of … well … Frederik Thordendal, the lead guitarist from Meshuggah. This solo project was completed, pretty much after Meshuggah’s - Destroy Erase Improve, so in a lot of ways it borrows from it.
We all know Mr. Thorendal for his extended range guitar work in the highly influential progressive metal group Meshuggah. This is the group that has, without a doubt, influenced an entire sub-genre of metal that is now known by the masses as “djent”. This term was coined by Fredrik Thorendal himself, given that the particular guitar tone that the band settled upon seemed to coincide with the term as an onomatopoeia of sorts. The fact that this album was released as an almost “solo album” by Thorendal in 1997 explains the vast evolution that we hear in those Meshuggah albums from 1995 to 1998.
On a timeline we can see that Meshuggah’s first album was released in 1991, the second in 1995, and the third in 1998.
The album was remixed and re-released by Ultimate Audio Entertainment and Relapse Records in 1999 under the title "Sol Niger Within version 3.33".
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The Crew Behind the Sound
The Sol Niger Within crew is: Thordendal on the guitars (and pretty much everything else…), then Meshuggah buddy drummer Tomas Haake on vocals …. yeah vocals hehehe oh and Marcus Persson as well with some vocals, Morgen Agren on the drums (from the progressive rock band Kaipa), Jerry Ericsson on bass, Mats Oberg on keyboards and Jonas Knutsson on the saxophone.
Fredrik Thordendal performing live. Photo by Sven Mandel / CC BY-SA 4.0
A Musical Smorgasbord
What we’re handed on this record is a smorgasbord of influences crammed into one spastic package. This album, though split up into 29 distinct (albeit mostly short lived) tracks, plays as if it were just one schizophrenically orchestrated song.
So you got the polyrhythmic calc metal, with all the niceties, the difference is that instead of being greeted with a standard Meshuggah tracks we are given a more experimental trip that combines those features with complex jazz elements and eerie atmospheric sections… its difficult to explain, well let’s just say it, that if this was a Meshuggah album i would say it has 5 Meshuggah tracks and 8 strange interludes, strange but not bad, it kinda all works together, it’s catchy and combines well the rawness of metal with some weird softening undertones.
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The album is a combination of complex jazz fusion elements influenced directly by guitarist Allan Holdsworth's unique guitar style and overall musical approach.
The guitars bounce from polyrhythmic chugging to soulful jazz solos to frantic tapping as if influence is just another member of the outfit. The bass (which Thorendal also recorded) growls on the low end with the same start-stop techniques as the guitars. Morgan Ågren pounds away at the drums, utilizing his title as a progressive music percussionist in more of a jazz aspect than anything else. Amongst this volatile combination is still keyboards, synthesizer, saxophone, and even a church organ.
The album contains several references to the work of Meshuggah. The track "Magickal Theatre .33." features an arrangement of Léon Boëllmann's Suite Gothique, Op.
The Album's Structure and Versions
The disc comprises one long song, which is indexed into 29 tracks. The length of each section ranges from around 20 seconds to 2-3 minutes.
Also note that there are at least 2 distinct versions, the original 1997 one and a 1999 remix with better audio and extra tracks, the album has 26 tracks (some a couple of seconds long…) but it works pretty much like one big track, anyway it’s supposed to be one big song and you should listen to it like so, so both versions are pretty much the same.
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Challenges and Triumphs
Well it’s not all flowers and happy bunnies, all this stuff sure does bring a strange pace to the album, and sometimes it feels it’s just played out too long, but i think it works pretty well, its one of those albums you have to listen to it to believe it.
Now with all of this avant-garde, extraterrestrial time signature clashing how could one possible see a deterring side? Well, in all reality, which this album seems to ignore in its own dimension of existence, its standout figure seems to play the role as the end-all weapon on both sides of the battle, making it somewhat of a paradox. While you will truly never hear anything quite like this with its instrumental arithmetic, dizzying concepts, and pure guttural experimentation it is also that experimentation that could prove to be the biggest downfall for some listeners. With the 29 tracks running rampant, some ending almost as quickly as they began, some may struggle to find something to hang onto and remember throughout the whole experience that is this record.
In a literary sense it may lack the musical motifs that hold many albums together. An album of this magnitude deserves at least one solid listen before it’s put down as pretentious and self indulged. Because, being the enigmatic piece that it is, some of its most off-putting characteristics to some may be the biggest show stoppers for others.
Summary
Like science fiction meets B-horror meets stream of consciousness meets progressive metal rock opera. This album will give you a ride that won’t be forgotten. And that also may result in probing.
It’s weird, strange and somewhat kinky and of course the taste for Meshuggah does enhance the experience.
This album will give you a ride that won’t be forgotten.
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