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░ ██ ██ Artist: SvΣrta ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Sepultus █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2015 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2017-06-01 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Black Metal ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: A Sad Sadness Song ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ SvΣrta is a Swedish lo-fi black metal act with not █
█ a whole lot of information behind them. I'm not █
█ sure when the group was first formed, where █
█ exactly they're from outside of their home █
█ country, or what the main intention is outside of █
█ misanthropic sadness...at the moment, all I am █
█ aware of is the name, the sound, and the fact that █
█ "Sepultus" is their first official recording █
█ outside of a demo released last year. Still, █
█ that's as good a place to start as anyà █
█ From a musical standpoint, Svarta are certainly █
█ grimy, dingey and devoid of any lick of color █
█ outside of black, white and varying shades of █
█ gray, and truth be told, they do such a sound a █
█ good amount of justice. Much of "Sepultus" really █
█ gave me a serious nostalgia trip, back to the 90s, █
█ when black metal was disjointed, ill-spirited and █
█ real, and unfortunately they just don't do it like █
█ they used to anymore, even with many of the █
█ old-timey heavy hitters still on the scene today. █
█ As to be expected from registered on the lower end █
█ of the spectrum, the material wavers all over the █
█ place in a very riff-by-riff way akin to throwing █
█ ideas and concepts out there one after another █
█ (per usual with extreme metal from then to now). █
█ That said, though, their own method does feel █
█ right and no one idea clashes with any others █
█ despite the lack of consistency and arrangemental █
█ focus and the somewhat sloppy performance the █
█ tracks at hand tend to suffer from. That said, █
█ though, the general meat and potatoes of the work █
█ make for simple yet solid bouts of infernal █
█ nastiness that doesn't really overdo any █
█ particular avenue or area; just good OG black █
█ metal intensity and darkness that made the grim █
█ ol' days so dismal and wicked, which added to the █
█ enjoyment factor on my end. █
█ At the forefront of it all, the production is █
█ mightily compacted and blurry with plenty of █
█ emphasis and thickness on the guitars above █
█ everything else, with the drums cardboardy, the █
█ vocals ghastly and occasionally going from distant █
█ (the harsh screeches) to way upfront (the █
█ chant-like cleans) and the bass buried beneath █
█ everything else. Still, the material is able to █
█ cut through its off-putting presentation by being █
█ capable, rough around the edges and, in its own █
█ way, memorable, coming off as a release that black █
█ metal truly needed in this day and age; old school █
█ yet not aping (see: not "Orthodox"), shadowy yet █
█ accessible and with enough organic differentiation █
█ going on to not have it be a simple blastfest from █
█ start to finish, I dug it quite a bit. Maybe more █
█ than that? Going beyond the already established █
█ genre-based motif, there are moments that things █
█ are turned on its head in ways you wouldn't █
█ expect; take, for one, the prog-like, █
█ clean-guitar-lead gentility halfway through █
█ "Brσddjupets Kall," which comes right outta █
█ nowhere yet feeling , or the ambient intro to █
█ "Gift", with its otherworldly, beyond-the-grave █
█ appeal and subtle counter-melodies that may not █
█ work here and there, but still show a softer side █
█ to an otherwise destructive musical force. █
█ At the end of the day, Svarta may be a cryptic █
█ band on the outside, but if "Sepultus" is any █
█ indication their creative output is still plenty █
█ enjoyable, almost impressive in itself. Hopefully, █
█ as the years wear on, we'll know more about this █
█ ultimately mysterious animal-skull-clad outfit, █
█ but until then, let the music speak for itself. █
█ Black metal fans young and old, do partake. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Brσddjupets Kall 6:30 ░
░ 2. HΣdanfΣrdens Sigill 8:36 ░
░ 3. Gift 3:46 ░
░ 4. Vσndans H÷gborg 8:50 ░
░ 5. F÷rruttnelsens Ljuva Nektar 5:31 ░
░ 6. Det Sublima Lidandet 8:09 ░
░ 41:22 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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