UMUR "Sol Niger Within" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish music artist Fredrik Thordendal. The album was released under the Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects monicker and it was released through five different labels on different markets. The Avalon Records version, which was released in Japan features one 43:34 minutes long track, while all other versions feature the long track broken down into 29 shorter songs. Thordendal is known as the guitarist and one of the founders of Swedish technical metal act Meshuggah and "Sol Niger Within" bridges the gab between Meshuggah´s second- and third full-length studio albums "Destroy, Erase, Improve" (1996) and "Chaosphere" (1998).

Those familiar with the two mentioned Meshuggah albums won´t be surprised with the increasingly angular odd-metered heavy riffs and rhythms, Holdsworthian jazz/fusion guitar solos, and the generally abstract almost avant-garde futuristic take on playing heavy music. It´s the evolution you also hear from the still thrash/groove metal oriented "Destroy, Erase, Improve" to "Chaosphere". The vocals on "Sol Niger Within" are some sort of spoken raw snarling and there are also some spoken word sections featured on the album. Guitars, bass, synths, and vocals are predominantly performed by Thordendal (although the album features quite a few guest performances), while the drums are performed by Swedish drummer Morgan Ågren (Karmakanic, Casualties of Cool, Kaipa, Devin Townsend).

Some tracks feature recognisable structures and some repetition, while others feel very abstract and linear, and "Sol Niger Within" definitely isn´t an easily accessible listen. So, if you find Meshuggah a hard listen, this will probably prove an even more challenging and maybe even difficult listening experience. Even Meshuggah fans may find this a bit too abstract, but when that is said "Sol Niger Within" features a lot of interesting songwriting ideas and moments, and while it´s certainly an avant-garde metal release, it´s not completely inpenetrable.

As an artistic statement "Sol Niger Within" arguably shows the genius and uniqueness of Thordendal and it´s overall an entertaining, highly experimental, and intriguing listen. As the album often lacks a solid structure or something for the listener to hold on to for very long, it´s as described above a pretty difficult listen though, and as a result it´s probably only an album for a select few open-minded listeners. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

siLLy puPPy Coming at ya with the complexity of a calculus equation on a physics exam in the rocket science department at MIT, the mastermind himself behind the extreme metal band Meshuggah unleashes his first solo outing to the world under the moniker FREDRIK THORDENDAL’S SPECIAL DEFECTS. Apparently not satisfied with the strangeness and angular extreme metal that Meshuggah delivers on a regular basis, THORDENDAL really lets it all loose on SOL NIGER WITHIN, which not only takes the jazz elements and high tech metal approach of Meshuggah but increases everything exponentially and adds all kinds of delicious ingredients to make one uniquely strange and satisfying edition in the world of djentology.

Some of this music itself doesn’t sound too overly different than the jazz metal fusion that i have heard from Buckethead on occasion but on this release we get a lot of diverse elements that incorporate a djent based guitar riffage with shrieked black metal type vocals that remind me a bit of Cradle Of Filth’s gothic take on the subgenre. Although the album is broken down into 29 tracks on the original release and include two extras on the 1999 re-release titled SOL NIGER WITHIN: Version 3.33 with a few changes like the organ missing, the album really comes off as one continuous track that morphs and evolves from one phase to another. The track listings are fairly unimportant as it really seems like they were randomly imposed on the musical flow.

While this is usually complimented to THORDENDAL as a solo project, this is in fact very much a conglomerate of musical talents that create some interesting avant-garde metal. Amongst others the most notable talents on board here include Morgan Ågren (drums) and Mats Öberg (keyboards) who were both performing with Frank Zappa at one point. Other non-metal instruments include the sax, church organ and yikaki, which is a long wooden instrument played by Australian Aborigines. While most tracks have their feet in the extreme metal world, some such as “Cosmic Vagina Dentata Organ” do not. This all church organ track was nixed from the 3:33 version for whatever reason. I own the first release and find the jettisoned track to be a very interesting intermission in the flow of the album.

While the subject of the lyrics involved seems to be based in the sci-fi world reminding me of the world of Voivod, there is an alien theme i detect going on here as well and the term SOL NIGER, which means the black sun, was referred to by alchemists to reflect the psyche’s feeling tone under the frigid and unrelenting influence of the planet Saturn. Some tracks like “Sensorium Dei” are just sublime in how it utilizes strange mathematical timings with tripped out guitar solos and deftly balances silence with extreme noise. This is a highly recommended slice of avant-garde metal heaven if you are seeking the strange, unorthodox and built-by-intelligent-design world of FREDRIK THORDENDAL which utilizes philosophy, mathematical musical construction and all the extreme metal brutality you would expect from his output.

While i don’t own the 3:33 version, i did find myself impressed enough with this album to check out the two extra tracks on this version for the sake of comparison. The two extra tracks are “Missing Time” which clocks in at 11:31 and “Ooo Baby Baby” which is only a mere 1:15. This version also emits “Painful Disruption” which is merely a 29 second freaky guitar frenzy that sounds like something Steve Vai would conjure up with a Zappa type of feel. “Missing Time” sounds more like a more recognizable jazz-fusion guitar piece with some narration about alien abductions. “Ooo Baby Baby” is a highly aggressive dent guitar assault that is short and to the point. It has a nice strange ending. Overall, i say stick to the original. The extra tracks are nice but i like the omitted ones more.

Warthur Fredrik Thordendal's side project is a trippy slice of jazz-tinged extreme prog metal, with a delirious concept that seems to allude to alien abduction and all that late 1990s X-Files fun. It's been issued in two versions, of which I have only heard Version 3.33 - which apparently takes out the church organ that appeared on some tracks, but compensates for this with improved sound quality and two extra songs. It's an enjoyable enough listen which will intrigue anyone interested in highly technical jazz-metal that takes the experiments of the likes of Atheist to the next level, though it isn't such a classic as to prompt me to go track down the other version for the sake of comparing and contrasting. In particular, a few too many sections seem to be slightly less experimental than they first appear, essentially being straight-ahead jazz fusion guitar numbers disguised by extreme metal textures and aesthetics.

Conor Fynes 'Sol Niger Within' - Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects (5/10)

To those who aren't familiar, Fredrik Thordendal is the lead guitarist of extreme metal band Meshuggah, an act that has reached near legendary proportions for their highly complex polyrhythms, philosophical themes and experimentation with meter. With that being said, this solo effort takes alot of the sounds that defined Thordendal's flagship project and adds a new dimension of weirdness to the mix that breaks the sound out of convention. With 'Sol Niger Within,' Fredrik Thordendal appears to be at his experimental peak, traversing well into the realm of the avant-garde with some heavily jazz influenced chaos, dissonant soundscapes and a loosely assembled but flowing body of work. While I can't say that a great deal of the new experiments that Thordendal dabbles with here turn out all that well, Meshuggah and avant garde fans will undoubtedly find something interesting to dive into here, although the work here is not nearly as convincing as the music Meshuggah is known for.

At twentysix tracks (plus two bonus offerings), it seems clear that 'Sol Niger Within' is the Last FM scrobbler's dream album. With some tracks just barely meeting the 15 second mark, sections of the album will pass in the time between blinks of an eye. Luckily for the listener however, each of the songs flow together as a larger, 'epic suite' of sorts. The album doesn't sound like it's a Meshuggah release, but there is the sense here that Thordendal hasn't let go completely of the sound from which he built his legend on. The mathematically aware chugging of Meshuggah is here; but something else really makes the music a fiar bit different than a listener may be familiar with. First, the drummer of Meshuggah and Fredrik's bandmate Tomas Haake does the vocal work here; a raspy snarl that instantly brings to mind, the minor character of Salacious Crumb from 'Star Wars VI: Return Of The Jedi.' However, the almost inhuman sound of the vocal delivery meshes almost perfectly in with the experimental nature of the album, and works generally well. Unfortunate, Haake's growling work is not used here nearly a much as it could have, instead making way for large sections of noise and instrumental repetition.

What doesn't work well with 'Sol Niger Within' is primarily it's 'spoken dialogue' sections, and the overbearing concentration on keyboard soloing. Concerning the latter, a fair portion of the instrumental music here consists of a mixture of a meandering synth lead that sounds like Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess at his worst, along with the typical Meshuggah rhythmic chug. While the synth work here sounded interesting at first, the fact that the music constantly falls back on it gets really annoying after a while. Secondly, a few tracks here (unfortunately, some of the longer ones) fall into the category of listless dialogue, in which the narrator rambles about some metaphysical philosophy, which on first impression can be beautifully poetic, but gets incredibly bland after the second and third listens.

As a suite and album, 'Sol Niger Within' feels relatively loose as a composition, especially with the two useless bonus tracks padded onto the end. The musicianship here is great, but the obvious experimentation and avant attitude here doesn't work nearly as well as it could have, especially from a musician as gifted as Fredrik Thordendal.

Conor Fynes 'Sol Niger Within' - Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects (5/10)

To those who aren't familiar, Fredrik Thordendal is the lead guitarist of extreme metal band Meshuggah, an act that has reached near legendary proportions for their highly complex polyrhythms, philosophical themes and experimentation with meter. With that being said, this solo effort takes alot of the sounds that defined Thordendal's flagship project and adds a new dimension of weirdness to the mix that breaks the sound out of convention. With 'Sol Niger Within,' Fredrik Thordendal appears to be at his experimental peak, traversing well into the realm of the avant-garde with some heavily jazz influenced chaos, dissonant soundscapes and a loosely assembled but flowing body of work. While I can't say that a great deal of the new experiments that Thordendal dabbles with here turn out all that well, Meshuggah and avant garde fans will undoubtedly find something interesting to dive into here, although the work here is not nearly as convincing as the music Meshuggah is known for.

At twentysix tracks (plus two bonus offerings), it seems clear that 'Sol Niger Within' is the Last FM scrobbler's dream album. With some tracks just barely meeting the 15 second mark, sections of the album will pass in the time between blinks of an eye. Luckily for the listener however, each of the songs flow together as a larger, 'epic suite' of sorts. The album doesn't sound like it's a Meshuggah release, but there is the sense here that Thordendal hasn't let go completely of the sound from which he built his legend on. The mathematically aware chugging of Meshuggah is here; but something else really makes the music a fiar bit different than a listener may be familiar with. First, the drummer of Meshuggah and Fredrik's bandmate Tomas Haake does the vocal work here; a raspy snarl that instantly brings to mind, the minor character of Salacious Crumb from 'Star Wars VI: Return Of The Jedi.' However, the almost inhuman sound of the vocal delivery meshes almost perfectly in with the experimental nature of the album, and works generally well. Unfortunate, Haake's growling work is not used here nearly a much as it could have, instead making way for large sections of noise and instrumental repetition.

What doesn't work well with 'Sol Niger Within' is primarily it's 'spoken dialogue' sections, and the overbearing concentration on keyboard soloing. Concerning the latter, a fair portion of the instrumental music here consists of a mixture of a meandering synth lead that sounds like Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess at his worst, along with the typical Meshuggah rhythmic chug. While the synth work here sounded interesting at first, the fact that the music constantly falls back on it gets really annoying after a while. Secondly, a few tracks here (unfortunately, some of the longer ones) fall into the category of listless dialogue, in which the narrator rambles about some metaphysical philosophy, which on first impression can be beautifully poetic, but gets incredibly bland after the second and third listens.

As a suite and album, 'Sol Niger Within' feels relatively loose as a composition, especially with the two useless bonus tracks padded onto the end. The musicianship here is great, but the obvious experimentation and avant attitude here doesn't work nearly as well as it could have, especially from a musician as gifted as Fredrik Thordendal.