I stumbled upon Icelandic metal act Sólstafir earlier this year at the Hard Luck Bar. I was there to see a friend who was in the opening act. I was told before the show that Sólstafir had been a black metal band, but in recent years were shifting their focus to be gentler and more melodic. The live show they put on was intense and spectacular, but true to my friend’s word, they did not sound like a black metal band.

Ótta is a sprawling epic of a record. It’s moody. It’s dire. Despite the clean singing, I haven’t a clue what Aðalbjörn Tryggvason is singing about because the whole thing is in Icelandic.

It has all the best qualities of progressive metal without devolving into self-indulgent wankery, instead opting for the emotional peaks and valleys that tend to be more associated with post-rock groups like Explosions in the Sky. There’s a fair bit of sonic diversity at work here, as fuzzed out guitars blend into driving pianos. A swell of guitars will emerge from a sombre violin. But then on tracks like “Miðdegi” there will be an explosion of noise over post-punk rhythms. Standout “Nón” features huge metal riffs.

I encourage listeners to not be put-off by the foreign language nature of the record. (since when were metal lyrics intelligible anyway) Ótta is easily one of the best records of the year.