Svartsyn -- Swedish black metal

Svartsyn

Requiem

Carnal Records

30 October 2020

1. The Pale Horse 06:45

2. Inner Demonic Rise 07:32

3. Mystery Babylon 08:21

4. The Desolate 08:30

5. Spiritual Subjection 06:04

6. Little Horn 09:12

46:24

The tale seems to go back to 1991 when it was called Chalice and in 1993 the name changed to Svartsyn, with vocalist/guitarist Ornias as the only constant throughout, and with some individuals working on the albums as necessary. This is the ninth studio album, and there also have been various EPs, splits, demos and things like that. The obsessive fan or collector of Swedish black metal projects might be familiar with Svartsyn, but it is probably accurate to say that this name is new or unfamiliar to fans of extreme metal in the U.S. By the way, this time around on the drums it is Hammerman, and Ornias is on guitars, bass and vocals, and who knows what else.

This 2020 album is traditional, headbanging, high-speed black metal, with everything that you are imagining, but at the same it is not a total, and complete non-stop blast-ing work. It is black metal tried and true, it is intense, it is all that. The fans that want no-nonsense black metal get exactly that. To tell the truth, the speed and spirit of the mu-sic is convincing and it is impossible to ignore the quality of the music. The experience shows. Nevertheless, the album does take a few listens to make more sense. Put it this way, if you look at the length of the songs, you will notice that the songs are somewhat longer than perhaps lots of black metal songs are. This is important because it means that the songs feel a bit extended, and the songs sometimes feel like they are purposely working on a hypnotic sense of attraction for the listener. The songs seem to spiral or cir-cle around a certain vibe, and things stay there in the pocket for extended periods of time. These are not typical songs in the sense of guitar solos and choruses, although they are not experimental tracks, either. Instead of a chorus and a guitar solo, you get circular formations of tremolo picking reoccurring insistently, going away for a bit, then coming back, then going away, then returning, as if the objective is a black metal meditation in beautiful chaos to be understood by the initiated. Enter initiation.

Requiem by Svartsyn