Tears of Stone: Jon Leifs 1899-1968

[André]

I have Edda I, but not the sequel. Before I invest in it (it's not cheap) I'll give Edda I another airing. Last time I did in 2016 I was not very impressed. I'll revisit my impressions of it.

Regarding the megasonic busters, as they are pleasantly called, one should not make too much of it. It's not a Leifs signature by any means. BIS has skillfully worked around that stereotyping by putting just one per disc. So each of these 10-15 minute telluric/volcanic pieces is surrounded by about 50 minutes of very different stuff, often in miniature format. At the same time, the label has made some mileage out of that strategy by marketing the discs to the max: there's the Hekla disc, the Geysir one, then Dettifoss, Hafis... you can't blame them for making a few bucks out of it. At least they were professional enough to give us quality 'fillers'. These discs are actually more than the sum of their parts.

The SQ disc is a winner. The 'tears' in SQ 2 representing his daughter's death are a very special touch. I like the Baldr ballet, too. Overlong maybe, but impressive.

[Symphonic Addict]

I have Edda I, but not the sequel. Before I invest in it (it's not cheap) I'll give Edda I another airing. Last time I did in 2016 I was not very impressed. I'll revisit my impressions of it.

Regarding the megasonic busters, as they are pleasantly called, one should not make too much of it. It's not a Leifs signature by any means. BIS has skillfully worked around that stereotyping by putting just one per disc. So each of these 10-15 minute telluric/volcanic pieces is surrounded by about 50 minutes of very different stuff, often in miniature format. At the same time, the label has made some mileage out of that strategy by marketing the discs to the max: there's the Hekla disc, the Geysir one, then Dettifoss, Hafis... you can't blame them for making a few bucks out of it. At least they were professional enough to give us quality 'fillers'. These discs are actually more than the sum of their parts.

The SQ disc is a winner. The 'tears' in SQ 2 representing his daughter's death are a very special touch. I like the Baldr ballet, too. Overlong maybe, but impressive.

Actually Edda Part II doesn't add anything new to be honest. If you didn't find Part I strong, probably Part II either.

I remember liking the SQs quite a bit, especially the one with a profoundly mysterious beginning (at the moment don't recall which one).