In the world of black metal, it is often difficult to make a significant splash. There is only so much you can do with the genre and after a while, it isn’t hard to bore listeners when the basics usually remain highly intact and rarely changing since the late 70s. However, Svartsyn, a Swedish black metal band, doesn’t seem to care about any of this – showing their commitment by powering forward through seven albums. Now, I haven’t personally heard earlier releases but from the sound of it, Svartsyn really doesn’t fall into the monotony many black metal bands tend to fall into.
The sound of Black Testament (Agonia Records) is sharp, gritty, and the vocals carry the familiar brutality of the genre, but bring with them a sense of refinement over many years and albums. The soaring, winding sound instantly draws you in after a descending unnatural intro – blasting you with the pounding force of ‘Revelation In The Waters’. Particularly impressive is the title track, in which the band amps everything up, including the tempo, to a maximum. They even add a grind-like quality that furthers just how impressive this album is as a whole.
Sadly, all tracks do not follow suite with those such as ‘Revelation In The Waters’, ‘Carving a Temple’ and ‘Black Testament’. A few tracks feel just a tad like filler, coming off as somewhat uninspired copies of previous songs. As well, the vocals at times feel a bit uneven or awkward – floating on top of the music, rather than blending or anything of that sort. There is also an extreme lack of chorus or structured melodies. It’s almost as if they adhere to the anti-melodic ideals of genres like crust. However, the latter really isn’t an issue – rather an observation.
Certainly, Svartsyn knows what they are doing – creating an entire album that feels as if it had come from the depths of some horrific pit of ideals – coming off as fresh in a country surrounded by countries known for putting out countless black metal acts. This is the fearlessness that Black Metal has and always has been about; ignoring Black Testament would be a disservice to you and your metal library.
8/10
Keith Joshua Ham