Svart Records

Hexvessel – Polar Veil Review

By sentynel on September 28, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 16 comments

“A few years ago, I proved that you can in fact judge a record by its cover, at least where genre is concerned. When Dear Hollow posted the art for Polar Veil in the staff room, my immediate reaction was that I was too Hexvesselled out to review another. Their weird, whimsical folk-psychedelia is right in my wheelhouse, but by album five, I was starting to feel that they’d run out of ideas. But I couldn’t stop looking at the art, with its great looming figure over a little snowy village.” Snowjob.

Yakuza – Sutra Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on May 22, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, Post-Metal, Psychedelic Rock, Sludge, Sludge Metal, 23 comments

“Yakuza over the course of their 20-plus year career explore through the duality of reverent and incendiary identities how sound too can transform through iteration. Having not yet graced the halls of AMG, and generally living on the outside of the metal limelight, Yakuza‘s hazily hypnotic, startlingly shredded, and warped woodwind take on metal will catch you off guard. Sutra will help you find the light.” C’mon Sutra.

Netherlands – Severance Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on April 9, 2023 in Reviews, Noise Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Sludge, Sludge Metal, 19 comments

“Netherlands has been kicking, screaming, and blowing out subs with furiously fuzzed twangs for a little over ten years now. Up until receiving this promo for their seventh album, Severance, I had no idea this band existed. Powered primarily by Brooklyn native Timo Ellis, ever busy with various groups (Cibo Matto and Morningwood, to name a couple) ranging from power pop to stoner rock to art rock, Netherlands explores the loudest and proudest of what the multi-instrumentalist has assembled over the years.” No sleep til…Netherlands!

Läjä Äijälä & Albert Witchfinder – Ordeal and Triumph Review

By Dear Hollow on March 10, 2023 in Reviews, Drone, Electronic, Noise, 57 comments

“Läjä Äijälä and Albert Witchfinder are both veterans to the Finnish music scene, the former best known for his time with punk band Terveet Kädet, while the latter is renowned as vocalist/bassist of Reverend Bizarre – although their collaboration has nothing to do with either. Like 2021 debut Centuries of Youth, Ordeal and Triumph offers three tracks and an hour of a polarizing blend of power electronics, industrial, analog noise, dark ambient, and spoken word.” Enter the Ordeal.

No Spill Blood – Eye of Night Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on February 28, 2023 in Reviews, Post-Metal, Psychedelic Rock, 31 comments

“Guitars scream metal. We’ve mused around the idea that metal can escape the confines of a typical treble assault with bands like Greber and Twin Lords highlighting fervent and twisted bass melodies as the fright and flight of the program. In aggressive and emotional takes on sludge and hardcore, it works. Other acts like Seum eschew the standard 6-stringer cultivating a hypnotic groove—to a fault, perhaps—to carry their torch down the metal path. No Spill Blood falls closer to this category with their 2015 debut Heavy Electric holding a unique place in the stoner rock (ish) scene for elevating the groovy shred-less platform with fierce layers of synthwork.” Synth spillage.

Sammal – Aika laulaa Review

By Carcharodon on November 17, 2022 in Reviews, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock, 23 comments

“Maybe it’s just me but, if I were looking to quote ‘rave reviews’ of a band, I wouldn’t necessarily single out the phrase “Earnest, vibrant music specked with impressive nuance.” Nevertheless, this is the phrase that a promo blurb writer selected from our review of Sammal’s last effort, Suuliekki. Treble Yell, who penned that review in March 2018, had gone on an entirely non-suspicious but very sudden and permanent sabbatical by the time I was press ganged into service later that year. But he clearly enjoyed, without loving, Suuliekki. Since then, Sammal has shed both its keyboard player and bassist. Perhaps you, like me, think that for a band like Sammal, which trades in progressive 70s-inspired neo-folk, both of those positions are fairly critical. Well, these three Finns laugh in your face.” Folk is not afraid of you.

Spiritus Mortis – The Great Seal Review

By Steel Druhm on September 13, 2022 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 17 comments

“In the darkness I lurk, watching from a distance for that first glimpse of what I know must eventually arrive. But how long must I languish in this grim limbo? My hunger grows exponentially as weeks stretch into months without succor. In anguish, I raise my fists to the Heavens and cry out. Where oh where are the great doom albums of 2022? Where are the classic doom-inspired platters designed to crush me ‘neath oceans of despair and mammoth riffs? Aside from the winning debut by Early Moods (God, I hate that name), there’s been little to slake my unhealthy doom desires. Thus I pinned a great deal of miserable hope on the return of Finland’s Spiritus Mortis.” High spirits.

Ianai – Sunir Review

By Dear Hollow on June 21, 2022 in Reviews, Ambient, Dark Neofolk, Folk, Neofolk, 29 comments

“Ianai is a “single-entity” project shrouded in mystery. Its secretive mastermind Trevenial offers twelve tracks influenced by folk music across the globe, equally evocative and primitive. With ties to England (mastered by Orgone Studios’ owner Jaime Gomez Arellano) and Finland (produced by Jaani Peuhu), and featuring a classical orchestra and world music artists, as well as a vast array of guests, from notable acts like HIM, Sisters of Mercy, Swallow the Sun, and The Rasmus, Sunir is a debut loaded with potential and questions in equal measure.” It takes a global village.

Serpentent – Mother of Light Review

By Maddog on May 21, 2022 in Reviews, Dark Neofolk, Folk, Neofolk, Not Metal, 11 comments

“If all you want is raw riffs, skull-crushing rhythms, or dissonant aggression, you’ve come to the wrong place. Serpentent’s debut full-length Mother of Light flirts casually with distorted guitars and heavier percussion, but there’s no metal to be found here. The brainchild of Seattle multi-instrumentalist Anne K. O’Neill, Serpentent plays minimalist dark folk music built around O’Neill’s emotive vocals and acoustic guitars. Spring 2022 has set a high bar for folky non-metal around these parts, with Urferd releasing an intricate slab of Nordic folk and Darkher continuing to set the standard for introspective doom. Mother of Light doesn’t quite reach those lofty heights, but it’s a pleasant surprise in a crowded genre.” Snake charming.

Famyne – II: The Ground Below Review

By Steel Druhm on May 13, 2022 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 22 comments

“U.K.-based “modern” doom act Famyne evaded my metal detector with their eponymous 2018 debut. I might have missed their sophomore outing too, had I not been desperate for some doom when skulking through the fetid promo sump on a dark and dreary night. Thus, I approached II: The Ground Below without context or expectation, and what I heard befuddled me for a good while.” Uncommon grounds.