Svartthron - a one man project - has brought its first album under Inferna Profundus Records into existence. "Bearer of the Crimson Flame" (Hammerfall will be jealous for not thinking of this title first) is labeled as unorthodox black metal. In truth, the description claims the release should be interesting for a wider audience than traditional black metal fans. If only hard, unforgiving grimness gets you off, you can stop reading now. Svartthron lacks any degree of (musical) aggression or hatred - basically, the band just belongs in that distinct niche of black/doom. It's only fair to mention that some tremolo/blastbeat work occurs (e.g. in "Of Malignity Carven"), but those passages are completely uninspired and disrupt the otherwise excellently spun melancholic atmosphere. Their ephemeral presence is but a feeble attempt for compositional variety, although the moderate double kick riffs do tend to achieve their effect ("Ethereal Murder").
I might be giving you a wrong impression until now, because Svartthron's album is on the whole very engaging and emotional. After all, the majority of the hymns are still gripping in their slow-paced, echoing disharmonies.
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AUTHOR: Goran
Goran has been an active reviewer for years (since the old Fishcomcollective, to the brand new Corazine - and also for Face Your Underground). He enjoys - besides metal - the creative side of life, be it through music, sports, programming or 3D. You can find him at www.myspace.com/fdemets.