Kontinuum – No Need To Reason
Words by Andreas Schiffmann The review was originally printed in Reykjavík On Stage (Issue 4) This is dark music that dodges the usual traps, coming across as neither pseudo-evil nor faux melancholy. Kontinuum’s weightless yet substantial sound has always revolved around the voice of multi-instrumentalist and musical director Birgir Þorgeirsson, whose vocal chords arguably rival those of Ulver’s Kristoffer Rygg and Wovenhand’s David Eugene Edwards – both of whom are in their creative prime, like him and his troupe. On No Need to Reason, the frontman’s dominance is perhaps more obvious than ever before as he puts a different stamp on each track according to what it needs. Apart from, at best, sporadic extreme metal leanings, this Reykjavik-based band’s third album leaves no stylistic stone unturned to expose an underbelly of human psyche that is not entirely unsightly. ‘Lifelust’ alone demonstrates this with its almost pop groove, and the driving…