Solastalgia - A Word for Our Time.

https://www.climatepsychiatry.org/major-topics-in-climate-psychiatry/solastalgia-missing-home-while-being-home

Solastalgia (a word coined in May, 2003 by Glenn Albrecht).

In today's world where the lands & places of the 'have's' are being 'invaded' by the dispossessed 'have-nots' it would be easy to think that only one of those groups might suffer from feelings of Solastalgia!
But no, it is both groups that suffer it.

Refugees suffer from a deep sense of lost homeland, local community, local natural features & culture ... Home!

Peoples in lands & places that refugees escape to because their homelands are failing (from ecological / climate damages, wars, despotic leaders, diseases & poverty), also suffer Solastalgia from seeing constant mass influxes of peoples not familiar to them, who were born 'abroad' and speak languages they don't know & have customs they fear.

The far right know this but won't ever use the word Solastalgia to explain homesickness & feelings of enforced destitution suffered by refugees

We know this.
It is our new age of consequences.

#solastalgia #refugees #conservatism

[P] It's difficult to feel solastalgia when slurried neurotypical collectives try so very hard to make every neurodivergent feel as though they're alien. For others it might be solastalgia. For me it's hiraeth. Woof. I do feel sad that the oceans have reached another tipping point, this world was once so beautiful. It was pretty great when it was just bacteria, then again when it was just plants, but now? ...

#psychology #actuallyautistic #neurotypicals #climatecrisis #hiraeth #solastalgia

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Field Guide to the Anthropocene

Watching the natural world change can be deeply saddening. Many of us feel a sense of grief or anxiety about the loss of species, the changing seasons, and the degradation of familiar landscapes. But paying attention—bearing witness—is a powerful act. It connects us to reality, helps us process grief, and can motivate meaningful action. Our project is to create “A Field Guide to the Anthropocene” (or similar title). This guide will blend ecological knowledge with simple observation techniques. It will help everyday people notice the environmental changes happening in their own communities, understand what they mean, and navigate the complex emotions that arise. It concerns learning to see clearly, grieve honestly, and find purpose in bearing witness to our changing planet.

Read more

#extinction #HumanImpact #Solastalgia

We’re Not In the United States Anymore

https://evecodes.com/were-not-in-the-united-states-anymore/

HERETOIR – Solastalgia Review

By Owlswald

Fall in the Pacific Northwest means two things: foggy air and the official start of sadboi season. And German post-black quintet HERETOIR are here to offer a choice soundtrack for the colder, darker months ahead. Since its inception as a solo project by multi-instrumentalist David Conrad in 2006, HERETOIR has been a mainstay in the blackgaze scene, crafting music that has been a long-standing source of catharsis while operating in the darkness with other well-known acts like Alcest and Fen. Solastalgia marks the trio’s fourth full-length album, but the first one we’ve reviewed here. Still, the group’s presence at AMG Industries isn’t entirely new. On the heels of their 2017 sophomore album The Circle, drummer Nils Groth spoke candidly in an interview with staff emeritus Muppet about how music can be a vital outlet for dealing with mental health. Since then, HERETOIR shifted to a collaborative songwriting process to define the darker and ethereal sound of their third album, Nightsphere. That same collaborative spirit now forms the core of Solastalgia, which explores themes of alienation and grief over the loss of our natural world.

Crafted to be an immersive listen, Solastalgia follows a heavy-light-heavy progression. High-energy tracks like “You are the Night,” “Burial” and “The Ashen Falls” boast the crunchy riffs, trem-picked guitars and rhythmic aggression of The Circle, while “Dreamgatherer,” “The Heart of December” and “Rain” shift toward the softer Alecstian sounds of Nightsphere during Solastalgia’s more contemplative middle. Groth absolutely pummels his kit for over an hour with tight blasts, hard-hitting hardcore rhythms, and eclectic fills that add tons of stylistic flair. Likewise, Conrad delivers a standout vocal performance, adding to the material’s raw, emotional feel with Katatonian sadboi cleans and Novembre-like murmurs contrasting blood-curdling screams and sweeping choral hooks. A high-quality production, with a smothering bass tone and cinematic elements like spoken word (“The Ashen Falls”), piano (“Solastalgia,” “Rain”,) and flute (“Season of Grief”) magnifies the immense emotional weight of HERETOIR’s music, creating a charged, multilayered atmosphere fraught with inner conflict and catharsis.

HERETOIR is adept at building a palpable sense of tension and releasing it through explosive crescendos, weaving a rich sonic tapestry of contrasting dynamics. They masterfully execute this formula across the album’s ten1 tracks with serene, reverb-drenched blackgaze textures juxtaposed by furious blasts, crushing breakdowns and soaring choruses. On “Inertia,” a pensive beginning of ominous piano and cascading tremolos abruptly halts—a pin-drop then detonates, unleashing a devastating maelstrom of thick distortion and ear-piercing screams that propels the track forward. “Season of Grief” is a dynamic journey that gradually builds momentum, shifting from unexpected death metal passages to a quiet, ghostly acoustic bridge before an epic, atmospheric crescendo—driven by Groth’s technical fills—brings the song to an enthralling conclusion. Throughout Solastalgia’s runtime, Conrad’s fluid vocals are key to fusing the album’s wide influences. He seamlessly transitions from soaring, Howard Jones-esque (Killswitch Engage) cleans (“You Are the Night”) to a grief-stricken fry (“Inertia”) and even burly death metal growls (“Season of Grief”), balancing accessibility with profound sorrow and grief.2

With such emotional veracity, an album of Solastalgia’s caliber could easily become too emotionally taxing. But HERETOIR deftly prevents listener burnout by bookending the record with its most expansive compositions. However, while this structure largely succeeds, Solastalgia’s flow is somewhat disrupted by the back-to-back placement of softer tracks like “Dreamgatherer” and “The Heart of December.” Although these tracks provide necessary breaks, their weaker hooks and limited variation make Solastalgia’s middle—from “Rain” through “The Heart of December”—feel a bit like a slog. Furthermore, the inclusion of “Metaphor,” an In Flames cover, at the very end detracts from the album’s flow and would have been better suited as a bonus track.

Even with its minor flaws, Solastalgia provides the perfect welcome to colder and darker seasons, offering a soundtrack for those who seek catharsis and solace in confronting inner turmoil. It successfully blends the best of The Circle and Nightsphere, creating a powerful and immersive tour de force of emotional intensity. Its songwriting takes listeners on a musical journey through a spectrum of genres, from serene blackgaze to aggressive hardcore, progressive death metal, and even screamo. For those drawn to the dark and melancholic, HERETOIR has created a record that successfully fuses their past into an experience that is sure to satisfy.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: AOP Records
Websites: heretoir.bandcamp.com/album/solastalgia | heretoir.com | facebook.com/heretoir
Releases Worldwide: September 19th, 2025

#2025 #35 #Alcest #AOPRecords #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #Fen #GermanMetal #Heretoir #InFlames #Katatonia #KillswitchEngage #Novembre #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #Sep25 #Shoegaze #Solastalgia