Neonism

Neonism is the second full length album by Norwegian Post-Black Metal band Solefald. It was released on December 7th, 1999 by Avantgarde Music.

Sound

The album expands upon the debut The Linear Scaffold by bringing a concept to the unique sound. It is in theory a black metal album, but contains many sonic elements and themes the genre usually does not touch on. The vocals by Cornelius and Lazare are different on this album than the first; though Lazare retains his clean singing and Cornelius continues his black metal screams/growls with some delivered in a rap like cadence and one song, "Omnipolis", sung in French. Some songs feature keyboards and electronic sounds unlike those typically used in other black metal songs. Indeed, the album was so far from traditional black metal, the band received a death threat.

Lyrical content

Although there is some thematic continuity between songs, the album is not as strictly a concept album as some of the band's later works. The lyrics to the album focus on consumerism and pop culture, which is a departure from many metal lyrics. American and European consumption seem to be targeted, as there are countless references to many brands and consumer icons throughout the record including Naomi Campbell, The Marlboro Man, Coco Chanel, Calvin Klein, Disneyland, Prozac, Tom Cruise, Special Agent Dale Cooper, James Bond, Jurassic Park, Visa Card, McDonalds and Michael Jordan. There are also references to philosophers and thinkers such as Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Plato, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Niccolò Machiavelli, as well as references to various religious allusions, such as Gaia, Noah, Sodoma, "Satanistan", etc.^[2]

Track listing

1. "Fluorescent (The Total Orchestra)" - 5:20
2. "Speed Increased to Scaffold" - 8:27
3. "CK II Chanel" N*6 - 3:31
4. "Proprietors of Red" - 6:33
5. "A Motion Picture" - 1:55
6. "Omnipolis" - 5:36
7. "Backpacka Baba" - 5:24
8. "Third Person Plural" - 4:03
9. "04.34 PM" - 3:22
10. "The New Timelessness" - 6:00

Personnel

• Cornelius - Rhythmic rhetoric, oxneck and dandyhand strings
• Lazare - Fiery voices, red keys, acoustic and artificial beats

Miscellaneous

• The album's recording sessions were marred by a mixing console that caught fire.^[3]
• The album takes its name from a synonym for the word "neologism", which means a made up word which enters everyday use.
• The album's production is as such because the band wanted to use a "true black metal production" sound, having it recorded at Sunlight Studios (home to many reputed black metal acts in the mid 90s)

References