Flykt have been in existence since 2016 and hail from the ever-expanding Swedish black metal landscape. ‘Charnel Heart’ is their first effort and they have attacked it with all their might and pure vitriolic aggression.
‘Charnel Heart’ opens with ‘Compendium Of Sacrifice’ and exhibits the true intention of the band with this beast, its uncompromising and powerful satanic dominance. The vocals are majestically dirty and have a gravel to them that is reminiscent of fellow countryman Erik Danielsson, and the working of the six strings is mesmerising. The whole package, with the drums and fretwork working in complete unison with the vocals causes the whole experience to be almost ritualistic of the most satanic kind. The intensity of the track is colossal, and it beats you into a pulp before the first track is even concluded.
If you have the will and stubbornness not to press the stop button, and submit to the battering that your timpani’s have succumbed to, then you must be a true stalwart of the black arts and you will not be disappointed with the rest of the release.
‘The Great Assassination’ starts with intricate drum work and then the guitars join to construct the body of the track. The vocals, yet again, are mesmerising and enchanting with their rawness and downright grubby demeanour. The composition is yet again fast, crushing and violent.
The onslaught doesn’t relent when ‘As Hunters To Havoc (Diatribe)’ opens its behemoth riffs and drum score. This one is faster and more debauched than we have seen already from the Swedes, and this seems to encourage the vocals to be loaded with more venom and spite than has previously been flaunted.
‘The Great Collapse’ slows things down slightly and has more of a technical feel to the guitars and drums, each one seems to try to elude to the fact that they are the soul which hold all the facets to the core of the body. The guitars are palpably complex and elaborate with the drums holding court, with precision and muscle a plenty.
‘Derelict’ sees the guitars being responsible for the intro, and they are joined by some female spoken words which have been injected to create a crisp clinical beauty, directly contrasting to the rabid and stained exquisiteness that we have already been subjected to. Once the words echo out, we have another blast to the cranium with the riotous and marauding beast that we have already been exposed to with the tracks that lay bludgeoned before this one. The same recipe is used on this track as has been tried and tested before it. Pure, raw black metal at its finest. The vocals are guttural and demonic, the drums are like a dragon heartbeat, pumping the sinful blood through the veins of the beast, and the bass is malicious and solid throughout. This blueprint is replicated in the attack of the final 3 tracks, ‘Cadaver Of Doubt’, ‘Sent To Destroy’ and ‘Charnel Heart’. The only element that needs a mention, as a deviation to the rest of the make-up, is the insertion of some male spoken words on ‘Sent To Destroy’ within the opening segment, much like on ‘Derelict’, and the words are used as an excellent tool to create an atmosphere worthy of sitting amongst the other gems and jewels that intertwine to create this resplendent, complete primal and atavistic black metal tour de force.
This is a legend in waiting, a potential future classic, and it shouldn’t be overlooked at any cost.
(9/10 Phil Pountney)
Leave a Reply