In 1997 Fredrik Thordendal took some time off from Meshuggah and concentrated on a solo project which he called Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects. Under that flag he released the album "Sol Niger Within" – a frantic, yet fascinating outpouring of musical dementia. Metal Mind productions presents the exclusive reissue of the album that invites you for a trip to the edge of sanity and beyond…

The new digipak edition of the album is limited to 2000 copies. Remastered using tube technology, digitally edited on a golden disc. Metal Mind productions set up the release date for 11th October in Europe and 7th December in USA (via MVD).

The lyrical content of "Sol Niger Within" was based on such themes as death, UFO, the afterlife and destruction of the universe. Fredrik explained his influences in an interview for Fuzz magazine in 1997: "I don't listen to much that to other music, so almost all of my inspiration comes from movies I've seen. I'm a UFO-freak and enjoy movies like 'The X-files', 'Twin Peaks' and Burroughs' 'The Naked Lunch'." He also gave an insight to the album's concept: "We had this idea that the record would describe a person's journey through psychosis. But with an alternative perspective of what a psychosis is. Petter Marklund has his own theory on how everything in the universe is built and through this psychosis you can go along and see what he sees, which is true. A close friend of mine experienced a stress psychosis for a period of two months, but could tell exactly what he had experienced afterwards. The society sees psychosis as a state of sickness, but I'm not sure if it's that simple. What if it's the exact opposite, that the state of psychosis is an opening to a bigger reality. It's interesting that everyone that has experienced a psychosis tells about similar experiences."

Nearly all the elements of "Sol Niger Within" were recorded by Thordendal himself, apart from the drums, which were handled by Morgan Ågren. The result was a 44-minute feast of instrumental madness (full of Thordendal's trademark odd-meter riffing and bizarre solos), backed by demon-like vocals and an intense rhythmic section. Thordendal managed to join all the best elements of metal, jazz-fusion, ambient and experimental music into one epic masterpiece showcasing pure musical genius. "This is exactly what I want to do" – stated Thordendal in 1997. "I want to provoke and do something different. Why shouldn't you do something that you really want to do?"

"Sol Niger Within" was officially released under the moniker Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects in 1997 through Ultimate Audio Entertainment. The album met with a very good reception among metal fans, however many people found it difficult to truly comprehend this material. Packed with gritty ideas and complex instrumental passages (including church organ and saxophone bits), the LP proved to be one of the most avant-garde metal releases ever to emerge on the metal scene…