If I said that Draug the man behind dark act Svart had current ties to Halmstad in Sweden that may well give some of you clues to certain affiliations he has. Yes he is also the bass player of Shining as well as Acacia whose album Tills döden skiljer oss åt I recently explored. Christian Larsson as is his real name obviously likes to keep busy and as far as Svart are concerned no doubt wanted to prove that he is more than just a mere bass player as here he tackles (almost) everything.
The album has evident depressive tones from the second it starts and is an all Swedish affair lyrically. As we have seen time and again this does not detract from the overall doom and gloom and in fact kind of encompasses it as the two go knife to wrist together. Acoustic guitar shimmers on opener Genom förgängelsens dimmor (Through The Mists Of Corruption) and the track’s sudden bursts of urgent adrenalized vigour really hit the spot. There’s an incredibly memorable guitar riff throughout and at full pace the song is richly melodic, with both clean and raspy vocals helping it all flow along. We move into the next number with some real black n’ roll riffs grooving away and guitars again gleaming on a razors edge behind them. This is a real pounder of a number and it kind of has a sound that is a mix of Satyricon, Shining and Vreid together as it gets its hooks in. The mid-paced drive is heavy as hell too and it commands neck wreckage as the cracking clamour steam-rolls over you.
I’m not entirely sure about the purpose of next number Hädanfärd (Parting). It’s a maudlin piano instrumental played in classical style and if it were done by the artist it would make sense but it is credited to Japanese composer Seiya Ogino who I see was also involved on the Acacia album. It’s suitably mood setting and reaches austere peaks and weepy funereal tones but the fairly lengthy running time does kind of detract from the main musical mission. There is a lot of fragility and sorrow within ‘I bulimia nervosas välde’ with some horrible vocals which along with the title make me think of someone sticking fingers down their throat and purging themselves. This track has a lot of Shining about it over the slower melodies and despite not being as full on as other parts of the album the slow burning approach gets under the skin and as it speeds to a hefty conclusion it flails the layers off. Violin and choral parts are hidden within the fronds of ‘Suicidiums evinnerliga bävan’ adding some gorgeous textures to the ragged vocals of the song and drenching it in a rich neo-classical fugue as it moves towards an epic and accomplished 9 minute running time.
There’s a lot of depth to the album and it does balance atmospheres of violence and despair brilliantly. It also helps to explain a lot about the recent music of Shining and although Kvarforth gets all the attention this illustrates that as far as the music itself is concerned this should not necessarily be the case. There are some similarities in some of the musical nuances here but the overall sound is unique and on a parallel to the more well-known band than being completely comparable to it.
This is the third album by Svart and after devouring it I am glad the project is finally on my radar as I really enjoyed this and will be keeping my eye out for previous works as well as anticipating further chapters.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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