Hailing from Sweden, yet sounding as if they have been delivered straight from the bowels of hell, this duo is ready to unleash another instalment of satanic verses onto this unsuspecting world, with such a tirade that it sounds like Lucifer has written it herself.

‘In Death’ is released vis Agonia Records and is bolstered by 7 tracks of black metal savagery which grab you right from the opening bars of ‘Seven headed Snake’ with a fury, that really doesn’t stop until you are left beaten and broken, as the final chimes of ‘exile in death’ ring out of your now possessed soul.

This really is raw Swedish black metal at its best, and Svartsyn are delivering it as they want to. There are no keyboards to hide behind, and nothing seems to be taken for granted. There is a definite malevolency and frenzy, which is paired with blackness, and then this is delivered with a certain old school charm.

The listener gets blasted from start to finish and you wouldn’t expect anything less from a band with such a back catalogue. Spawned in 1991, under the original name of ‘Chalice’, they soon decided to change this to the current tag of ‘Svartsyn’, and they have since progressed to release 5 demos, 3 EP’s and 8 full length releases, including this latest offering. They also joined forces with Arckanum in 2004 to unleash the split release, namely, the outstanding ‘Kaos svarta mar / Skinning the Lambs’

Ornias is the major driving force behind the band and is responsible for the duties of vocals, guitar, and bass work, yet is accompanied by the more than capable drum skills of Hammerman for this release.

As much as their style is robust, Svartsyn don’t really change the formula between tracks, yet there are definite tweaks which have been made. For example, you are blasted straight into hell with ‘seven headed snake’, and followed by ‘dark prophet’, and just when you think it couldn’t get any nastier, ‘with death’ ups the tempo by a degree or two. This then continues throughout.

Ornias’ vocals bring a definite bleak atmosphere to the proceedings and it definitely portrays a malignant anger which every respectful black metal album should possess. It has been far too long a wait since ‘Black testament’ in 2013, and I am so pleased to report that Svartsyn have returned, but be warned ……………………. enter this world at your own peril, because it will truly chew you up and spit you straight back out.

So, in short, Svartsyn, and ‘In Death’, absolutely needs to be at the forefront of every serious, self-respecting Black metal fans collection, at all costs.

(9/10 Phil Pountney)

https://www.facebook.com/svartsyn666

https://agoniarecords.bandcamp.com/album/in-death