| In Harmonia Universali | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 24 March 2003 | |||
| Recorded | April–July 2002 | |||
| Genre | Avant-garde metal | |||
| Length | 60:18 | |||
| Label | Century Media | |||
| Producer | Börge Finstad, Solefald | |||
| Solefald chronology | ||||
| ||||
In Harmonia Universali is the fourth studio album by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Solefald. It was released on 24 March 2003, and their last record released under the Century Media label. The album features lyrics sung in four languages: English, Norwegian, French and German.
Cornelius, the band's chief lyricist, stated on the band's website that much of the lyrics have Satanic undertones, and that it wasn't a coincidence; he believes that part of the formation of what metal is today is due to evil and the rhetorical figure of Satan, who in turn is praised on the song "Red Music Diabolos", claiming, "our crazy music has to come from somewhere."[ citation needed ]
The album's themes are based on various philosophers and deities, all of which have a single song based on them.
As taken from the album's booklet:
"Ten songs, ten wheels of time
To be buried in the body,
Grave of the mind -
Chained to an infinite universe
Where night is the rule
Ten songs, ten pills
To make the known look unknown
And the ancient feel new -
Pills against the ageless ills
Ten songs, ten rites
To purify the spirit -
Demons talking hard
And demons talking soft:
First, Gebura, for justice
Second, Munin for knowledge
Third, Munch, for creativity
Fourth, Epictetus, for virtue
Then Dionysus, for pleasure
Sixth, Diabolos, for music
Seventh, the Virgin, for fertility
Eighty, the Prophet, for charity
Ninth, Odin, for protection
Last, for light, the sungod Apollon
Ten songs, ten stories of
Extreme music science -
Solefald proceed to play
In Harmonia Universali"
All lyrics written by Cornelius.
In the album's booklet, the songs "Red Music Diabolos" and "Dionysify this Night of Spring" are incorrectly listed track five and track six, respectively.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Blabbermouth.net |    |
Blabbermouth.net's review was favorable, writing, "in a mire of screaming pocket Satanists, Solefald offer a tangible break from the norm. That their desire for experimentation has previously led to threats from conservative black metal zealots must surely be recommendation enough for you to bend your brain around this album." [2]
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalist Shagrath and rhythm guitarist Silenoz are the only original members who still remain, with lead guitarist Galder being a longstanding member.
Tristania is a band from Norway, formed in 1995 by Morten Veland, Einar Moen and Kenneth Olsson. Tristania's music is usually classified as Gothic metal with death influences, due to its strong tie and legacy within the gothic metal history. Their songs largely deal with dark and sentimental topics, including depression, sadness, suicide, love, absence, and anger.
Sirenia is a Norwegian gothic metal band from Stavanger, Norway founded in 2001 by Morten Veland.
Leaves' Eyes is a German symphonic metal band from Germany and Norway. They were formed in 2003 by Liv Kristine, the former lead singer of Theatre of Tragedy and the entire line-up of Atrocity. To date, the band has released seven studio albums, a single, six EPs, one live album and a DVD.
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. He composes much of the music and all the arrangements for violin and cello on the Solefald albums, Red for Fire: An Icelandic Odyssey Part 1 and Black For Death: An Icelandic Odyssey Part 2. He also has written some lyrics for the band, including the songs "04.34 pm", "Fluorescent", and "White Frost Queen." He and vocalist/guitarist/bassist/main lyricist Cornelius Jakhelln started Solefald in August 1995.
Solefald is a Norwegian avant-garde metal/black metal band that was formed by members Lars Are "Lazare" Nedland and Cornelius Jakhelln in August 1995, with Lars singing and playing keyboard/synthesizer/piano and drums, and Cornelius singing and playing guitar and bass. The meaning of the band's name is best explained in an interview from Century Media Records website. Lazare states "Solefald is an old Norse word for sunset. We 'stole' it from a painting by the Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen. His two paintings 'Soleglad' and 'Solefald' portrays the cycle of being, and we found it to be a very fitting idea for our band." Cornelius also states "'Solefald' means literally 'the fall of the sun', or just 'sunset'; the way we spell it is Danish, from the 19th century."
The Black Waltz is the fourth full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Kalmah and their first with keyboard player Marco Sneck. This album has them gravitating more towards thrash metal, which has often been cited as the Kokko brothers' primary musical influence. The vocals have changed to lower death vocals, compared to their higher pitched growls in previous albums.
Pills Against the Ageless Ills is the third studio album by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Solefald. It was released on 19 September 2001, and is their first album under the Century Media label. It is a concept album, following the story of two brothers, Philosopher Fuck and Pornographer Cain.
Cornelius Jakhelln, also known as Cornelius von Jackhelln, is a Norwegian vocalist, guitarist, musician, writer and poet.
Meister Mephisto is the first full-length album by Norwegian experimental black/thrash band Sturmgeist, the, then solo, project of Cornelius Jakhelln. It was released on 24 January 2005. It is the 94th release by French record label, Season Of Mist. A live drummer was originally planned to be involved with the recording, but Jakhelln wound up programming the drums instead, making Meister Mephisto the first time Jakhelln released an album that was an individual effort after being a professional musician since 1995. In an interview for Nocturnal Horde, Jakhelln stated that the music on the album was influenced by living for a month in Weimar, Germany. In a press release for Blabbermouth.net Jakhelln stated, "It is no coincidence if Meister Mephisto has Germanic culture as its scene and source." In support of the album, Jakhelln garnered support from various Norwegian musicians, including drummer Asgeir Mickelson of Borknagar and Spiral Architect fame, and went on a European tour with Season of Mist label mates, Carpathian Forest.
Sturmgeist is an experimental black/thrash metal band formed by Cornelius Jakhelln in 2002.
Rhapsody of Fire is an Italian symphonic power metal band formed by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre.
Neonism is the second studio album by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Solefald. It was released on 7 December 1999, through Avantgarde Music.
The Linear Scaffold is the debut studio album by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Solefald. It was released in 1997, through Avantgarde Records.
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 18 October 2005, while the second part, Black for Death, was released on 24 November 2006. The band was quoted as saying "Solefald was experimenting when everybody was being true. Now that things are changing and that we've pushed the experiment quite far already, we wanted Red for Fire plus Black for Death to be our attempts at being 'true'. This will be a true Nordic Viking metal album."
Cosmogenesis is the second studio album by German death metal band Obscura. It was released on 17 February 2009 by Relapse Records. The album debuted at No. 71 on the Top Heatseekers chart.
Norrøn livskunst is the seventh studio album by Norwegian avant-garde black metal band Solefald and their first album released through Indie Recordings.
Finsterforst is a German folk metal band from Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, whose lyrical themes deal with nature, German myths, and fantasy worlds. Formed in 2004, the group has released three full-length studio albums, one extended play and one compilation album.
Carolus Rex is the sixth studio album by Swedish power metal band Sabaton. It is a concept album based on the rise and fall of the Swedish Empire, whose monarch Charles XII gives it its title. It was released with both English and Swedish vocals. It is the last album to feature guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mullback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr. It was produced by Peter Tägtgren in Abyss Studios. The album received critical acclaim and commercial success, achieving gold certification in Poland and quadruple platinum in Sweden.
Deep Calleth Upon Deep is the ninth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Satyricon. It was released on 22 September 2017 under Napalm Records.