Concept

The press release for described the album as such:

With "Norrøn livskunst", SOLEFALD looks to the early 1900-century Norway, when a young nation zealously engaged in exploring its cultural roots. Writers, painters and composers rediscovered Norse mythology, the Edda

Edda

The term Edda applies to the Old Norse Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, both of which were written down in Iceland during the 13th century in Icelandic, although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching into the Viking Age...

 and the sagas. Houses and buildings were designed in the Norse "dragon style" and decorated with medieval motifs. Sports clubs were named after Norse deities, and Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

's "Heimskringla

Heimskringla

Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...

" had a natural place in every home. Explorers went out to conquer the most inhospitable regions of the world. Some of that same madness is underlying in black metal: When others hunt for fame and fast money, leave it to the Norwegians to colonise frozen continents and old cemeteries. As Cornelius Jakhelln's saga novel "The Fall Of The Gods" states: "They called it evil. They called it True Norwegian Black Metal.

Musical style

The album marked some minor changes in vocal styles from both members. Cornelius employed the aggressive style he developed on the albums prior to An Icelandic Odyssey

An Icelandic Odyssey

An Icelandic Odyssey is a two-part concept album series by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Solefald. The first part, Red for Fire, was released on October 18, 2005 while the second part, Black for Death, was released on November 24, 2006. The band was quoted as saying "Solefald was experimenting...

 and with his side project Sturmgeist

Sturmgeist

Sturmgeist is an experimental black/thrash metal formed by Cornelius Jakhelln in 2002.-Beginnings:In 2002, Cornelius Jakhelln began working on a new band. The name chosen was Sturmgeist . The music was an experimental mix of black/thrash metal with lyrics sung in English, Norwegian, and German...

. He also introduced a deep, nearly spoken word vocal approach not before heard with Solefald. Lazare's vocal arrangements are some of the most dense and sophisticated he's ever performed. The musical style covers a broad range, as is expected by now from Solefald. Aggressive extreme metal, heavily electronic passages and complex multilayered vocals. The album also features guest contributions in the forms of vocals, saxophone and guitar. The majority of the original lyrics with the exception of "Waves Over Valhalla" and a portion of "Stridsljod/Blackabilly" which are in English, are written in a 1917 variant of Norwegian called høgnorsk

Høgnorsk

Høgnorsk, meaning "High Norwegian", is a term for varieties of the Norwegian language form Nynorsk that reject most of the official reforms that have been introduced since the creation of Landsmål...

 (high Norwegian), which is a conservative written language preceding today's much more common nynorsk

Nynorsk

Nynorsk or New Norwegian is one of two official written standards for the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. The standard language was created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the...

 (new Norwegian).

Band members

• Lazare
  Lars Nedland
  Lars Are Nedland , known also as Lazare, from Kristiansand, Norway, is the vocalist, drummer and keyboardist for acclaimed avant-garde black metal band Solefald. He is also keyboardist for the progressive black metal act Borknagar...
  
   - Vocals, synth
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , electronic beats, drums and percussion
  Drum
  The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
  
  
• Cornelius
  Cornelius Jakhelln
  Cornelius Jakhelln , also known as Cornelius von Jackhelln, is a Norwegian vocalist, guitarist, musician, writer and poet.-Musician:...
  
   - Vocals, guitars and bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  

Guests

• Agnete Kjølsrud (ex-Animal Alpha, Djerv)
  Animal Alpha
  Animal Alpha was a five-piece Norwegian rock group formed in 2002 and disbanded 2009.The band spent much of 2004 playing shows around Norway...
  
   - vocals (on tracks 3 & 7)
• Benedicte Maurseth - vocals (on tracks 1, 8 & 10) and Hardanger fiddle (on track 1)
• Kjetil Selvik - Saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
   (on tracks 4, 5 & 7)
• Vangelis Labrakis - guitar (on track 6)
• King is credited for "wah howls
  Wah-wah pedal
  A wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...
  
  " on track 4 courtesy of Chilihead/Egghead Prodz. King is a character that performs in the band Chilihead in Cornelius Jakhelln's novel Voguesville. The song "Stridsljod / Blackabilly" is dedicated to King.

Technical Staff

• Mixed by Endre Kirkesola at Dub Studio
• Mastered by Vangelis Labrakis and Stamos Koliousis at 210 Studio
• Cornelius' vocals, guitars and bass recorded by Christer-André Cedergren at Oslo Lydstudio
• Lazare's vocals recorded at Dub Studio
• Drums recorded and produced by Asgeir Mickelson
  Asgeir Mickelson
  Asgeir Mickelson is a Norwegian musician, artist, photographer and music reviewer. Although primarily a drummer, Mickelson has stated that he considers himself a musician above a drummer, and is also a guitarist and bassist....
  
   at Toproom Studio
• Drums engineered by Børge Finstad
• Keys and effects recorded at Mezzanine Studio
• Trine + Kim design studio - cover layout & design
• Band photographs by Sidsel Jakhelln Semb

Release history

Country	Date
World World World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth.... wide	November 15, 2010

Funding

• Cultiva Ekspress funded the mixing of the album.
• Fond For Lyd Og Bilde funded the poetic journey to Høgnorsk.