Svartsot - Ravnenes Saga
Napalm Records file under black/pagan metal
 Vera: Napalm Records has a very good talent to sign new interesting bands, a fact we all know since long. In between the large amount of folk metal bands (nowadays this genre is enormously popular) they have once again found one that has more to offer than just the next collective, adding at haphazard some whistles and folk melodies to its harsh metal. Svartsot is the name and they are hailing from Denmark. They started as a regular standard (black) metal band, but they had a broad fascination for Danish folklore and sagas of the Nordic countries since the very beginning.
After their first gig the band was extended with Stewart C. Lewis who plays different whistles and bodhran. Next to it, guitarist Cris J.S. Frederiksen plays mandolin, this is another instrument that defines the sound of Svartsot. Vocals are in Danish language and of the growling kind with parts that come close to black metal screams in some of the songs. Very raucous, this makes the Viking metal of these Danes unpolished and not too folksy. Svartsot made earlier two demos, the second one ‘Tvende Ravne’ was recorded with Jacob Bredahl (ex-Hatesphere) in his studio. At that time Svartsot won some studio time when they won the Danish Metal Grand Prix competition in 2006.
‘Ravnenes Saga’ means ‘Saga Of The Ravens’ and refers to Odin’s two ravens Hugin and Munin who reported every day what they had seen that day. The lyrics deal with typical Viking themes such as heroic feats and battles, feasts, a bit of mystery and lots of boozing and womanizing. The album kicks off in proper Amon Amarth style, but soon flute joins in, indicating the leading melody in most of the songs, together with the guitars and that makes Svartsot just a bit different. Together with the tempestuous Viking voice of Claus B. Gnudtzmann we hear a bunch of infectious, fetching songs, some of them exuberant and inciting (the joyful ‘Nidvisen’ and the up tempo occluding tracks ‘Brages Baeger’ and ‘Havets Plage’), others with a dark, melancholic undercurrent. A few acoustic parts are well-integrated into the wild album. The furious metal riffs and melodic lead parts of the medium paced ‘Bersaerkergang’ remind me once again of Amon Amarth, but for the rest Svartsot do have an own identity. The mostly instrumental ‘Hedens Dotre’ (except for some great barbaric screams) is a stunner in which we hear how mandolin can be used in metal in a glorious way. Or listen to the very low grunts of Claus in the steady ‘Festen’! This is an album every folk metal fan will enjoy! The limited digipack includes two extra tracks. Hey hey, the Viking spirit rules!
Rating 90/100 (details)
http://www.svartsot.dk
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