Album Review: Isafjørd – Hjartastaki (Svart Records)

Hjartastjaki is the debut album from Icelandic atmospheric post-rockers Isafjørd (meaning: fjord of ice). It will be released on December 2nd, 2022 via Svart Records.

As cold, wonderous and beautiful as the landscape that Isafjørd takes its name and inspiration from, Hjartastjaki is an album to lean back to. An album to not overthink. An album to let yourself sink into. Yes, it’s cold but it’s the kind of cold that sharpens the senses and makes you aware of every single detail around you.

Simply calling this album enchanting is to undersell the ethereal and atmospheric beauty that runs through it. Isafjørd combine post-rock and pop to make you feel, and bloody hell, will you feel. From the beginning, the emotion pours from this album like ice melting under a warm sun. The post melody of Falin Skemmd enhanced by a drum beat that sounds elemental and vocals that comfort in their unrestrained honesty.

In most circumstances, that opener might be the high point of an album, so impressive is it. However, Isafjørd are only getting started. Laying down a thick layer of dejected melodic atmosphere and drama on Mín Svarta Hlið and the title track. Before a certain level of darkness seeps in on Heiðin. However, it’s not darkness that makes you feel uneasy or frightens. Rather, it’s the darkness that comforts. The darkness that lies across the landscape like a warm blanket.

If some of these descriptions seem a bit unusual, it’s because this album invokes these thoughts and feelings. There’s no desire to get technical with this review, it is all about what it makes you picture and what it makes you feel. Cast a critical eye over the body of work but don’t let that overshadow the importance of being with this music.

With Kuldaró and Fjord of Hope, Isafjørd continue to make that an easy task. Drifting alongside the melodies, finding moments of punchier guitar-rhythm, and most importantly. feeling the heart and soul of everything this band does.

Heart and soul that reaches a crescendo with Njálssaga. The epic instrumentation of the start bleeding nicely into a more relaxed, melodic and memorable rhythm. Before things start to go off the rails as the track transforms into something eerie and ethereal. It’s one of the most challenging tracks on the album but also, one of the most fascinating.

The journey is coming to an end but not before Isafjørd deliver one more highly emotional, unbelievably beautiful and uniquely effective track in Andvök. It’s just wonderful.

Which, of course, applies to the album as a whole. In a world where everything moves fast and attention spans are at an all-time low, Isafjørd offer a chance to just stop. A chance to take a deep breath, taste the cold air and feel at peace. Even if it’s only a momentary pause, it’s one that matters.

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Svart Records