LJÁIN (Is) - Endasálmar og klofnar tungur - DIGIPAK CD

LJÁIN is a relatively newer work of the prolific H.V Lyngdal, most known for Icelandic scene-spearheaders Wormlust. Indeed, some similarities between that band and LJÁIN can be heard across the two EPs that comprise Endasálmar og klofnar tungur - spiraling, almost-improvisatory songwriting, bleary atmosphere, bug-eyed performance - but Lyngdal definitely shows a new side of himself here. In many ways, LJÁIN is the alpha to Wormlust's beta, foregoing the smoother, more ambient-intensive moments for hideous, hallucinogenic overload. Blown-out and bellicose, reveling in the murk and chaos whilst navigating a clear-cut path to oblivion, the seven songs comprising Endasálmar og klofnar tungur are grim, black metalled abandon taken to their penultimate end.

And yet, sombre delicacy nevertheless exists within LJÁIN's soundworld; tracks occasionally dip and disintegrate into forlorn lullabies, all before the inevitable jet-propulsion into another miasmic vortex. And underneath it all reside strange reverberations that, in the skillful hands of Lyngdal, are anything but accidental: haunting ghosts of fractured memory, wandering endlessly in search of a home. All is sonic confrontation - and there is simply no escape.

Compiling both the Endasálmar and Klofnar tungur EPs from 2016, Endasálmar og klofnar tungur is a convenient and above all compelling introduction to the upside-down world of LJÁIN. Light a candle and embrace the shadows...

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