An adrenaline rush, an outburst of rage broken by darkly peaceful moments is where Sepultus manifest the personality of this act from Sweden. The melodic lines are buried into an apparently chaotic aggression able to overwhelm the listener, surrounding the space in a growing maelstrom. Svarta does no simply draw a darkly persuasive form of aggression but translate also the obscure essence of the avantgardish mood of band like Ved Buens Ende, Dodheimsgard “Satanic Art” era in a dynamic form. In the extreme coexistence of those elements mid tempo are mostly banned from the horizon. A no compromise attitude aesthetic made of black & white contrasts that emphasizes a peculiar perception & feeling that slowly arouse the listener, an equilibrium made by the opposites
Issued in a standard jewel case with transparent tray and 8-page booklet.
Svarta 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 any...
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 "Bråddjupets 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.
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