Stilla - Synviljor (New Vinyl LP)

As the seasons converge and the wind blows in cold from the north, Stilla are restless once more - urged on by the powerful forces of nature to transform these earthly energies into a bittersweet maelstrom, bleak and yet strangely comforting for those awaiting news from Sweden. Exploring the outer limits of the human sensory condition and challenging the boundaries of experience, Stilla ask us to reach out and contact our primal nature and to get creative. Synviljor is similar in etymology to 'synvillor', which means 'optical illusion' in English. This little titbit may or may not be a coincidence, but without doubt it is, in a way, an appropriate analogy for the band's oeuvre, won't as the album artwork for their albums are to draw you in to expecting a rather palatable form of Nordic, nature inspired black metal only for a more acerbic, biting attack on the senses. Synviljor epitomises this Loki-esque playful trick of the mind more than ever as the vitriol cuts deeper than ever before - perhaps a portent of the coldest, harshest winter to come.