Ravnenes saga

Folk metal in its various incarnations is spreading like wildfire at the moment, with a great deal of variety now appearing in what would initially appear to be a fairly limited field. From its beginnings with Skyclad and various black metal bands looking to explore their Nordic roots, the subgenre has come a long way. The extremes of the genre show on one side of the coin power metal dressed up with traditional instruments and melodies, and on the other harsher outfits that have grown one way or another from the influence of black metal.

Svartsot sit clearly on this side of the fence – despite there being virtually no black metal aspect to their sound, the music on their debut CD 'Ravnenes saga' is as pounding and aggressive as it is melodic and rousing. The guitars have a wonderful crunch to them often missing in this style, and thankfully are given the main job of directing the songs instead of merely providing background noise. Frontman Claus B. Gnudtzmann's vocals are likely to be the make-or-break for fans more accustomed to more melodic folk metal. His rolling, guttural death growls, interspersed with occasional black metal shrieks, receive very little accompaniment from the perhaps-expected choir vocals and are likely to turn some listeners away.

That is not to make the suggestion that Svartsot represent a joyless dirge, as the melodies that lace each song are relentlessly upbeat. The songs have all clearly been written with a strong focus on the metal aspect of their sound, with surprisingly few folk instruments utilised throughout the CD. Their presumably-imported flautist Stewart Lewis overlays every song on the CD with his contributions, but the songs themselves probably would not suffer terribly were his parts to be erased from the recordings. On a few occasions it even feels as though the woodwind accompaniment has simply been grafted on to existing songs, often harmonizing a little too closely with guitars. In these instances, the songs would perhaps be better served if the guitarists were allowed to get on with it by themselves. Hopefully as the band grows together they will learn to mesh their metal and folk aspects together more seamlessly, and get rid of the faint impression that the flute parts are simply there for the sake of being there.

As the CD progresses, it begins to show more diversity compared to the fairly uniform opening clutch of songs, with a few lunges into more bouncy, fist-pumping Korpiklaani-type folk metal, best exemplified on the midpoint track, "Festen". The closing track, "Havets plage", like that on Ensiferum's debut, features the most ridiculously folksy melody the band have yet crafted, and ends proceedings on something of a cheeky note. It goes to show that straight-faced and aggressive folk metal can still be unbelievable fun to listen to. With folk metal continuing to spread and even, absurdly, achieving minor crossover appeal here in the U.K., it will inevitably reach the point where debut CDs will have to be approached with a greater degree of caution. Thankfully, 'Ravnenes saga' will not have to be filed as such. Svartsot promise a great future.

(Originally written for http://www.metalcdratings.com/

There have been many excellent releases in 2007 in the folk/viking metal genre, but most have been from bands you'd expect greatness from (Moonsorrow, Ensiferum, Korpiklaani, etc.) Joining the ranks of the elite come Svartsot, seemingly out of nowhere (well, Denmark to be exact). You'd think that Denmark, with its rich history, would have many bands of this style but it doesn't, luckily, here comes Svartsot, with a flag raised high in one hand and a beer in the other.

Svartsot manage to sound like many bands and yet only sound like themselves. They share that happy fun-loving vibe that Korpiklaani and Finntroll have, but can also appeal to fans of Amon Amarth as well. The reason for this is that they combine the usual elements of their chose genre with death metal elements, particularly the vocals, a la Eluveitie, except performed better.

The band presents fourteen tunes dripping with Viking spirit and atmosphere. Things start off very well with "Gravollet" a song so damn catchy you'll be humming it for weeks. Later on comes the back to back combo of "Hedens Dotre" and "Festen" , both incredibly headbangable and lead by Claus' deathy vocals, There is no filler here, each track hits you like a battle axe. The lyrics are apparently about beer and women, but unless you speak Dutch, you won't know the difference anyway,

All fans of folk/viking metal owe it to themselves to get this album. You will not be disappointed.

The name of Svartsot had remained totally unknown to me until not so long ago I stumbled upon a charming digipack version of this album, proudly exhibiting a sticker labelling it as “THE NEXT GENERATION OF FOLK METAL” (sic). Wow – here is what is apparently the new trendy token Viking act, filled with sugary keyboards and so-called traditional samples, and I wasn’t aware of it? It’s a stroke of luck I’ve precisely some money to waste.

As you’ve already understood by looking at the score above I was wrong, but let’s admit the Danish sextet doesn’t help giving a serious image of its work. Let alone the inept sticker, the “next generation” seems to be fond of the same clichés as the “previous generation”: there isn’t any of those these guys haven’t fallen into, from the back cover where everyone is proudly waving his sword and shield to lyrics exclusively dealing with battles, longships, beer and women; without forgetting the inner photo showing the band in all its drinking glory. But from the very first notes of the opener Gravøllet, this primary impression of beaten-to-death and somehow vapid ostentation quickly vanishes. Svartsot plays unadulterated Viking metal, a bit too polished maybe, but for sure devoid of any useless flourish.

Granted, if this act was really willing to incarnate the “next generation” it totally failed, as the influences are quite obvious. Windir is the first name springing to mind, but a Windir with less black metal elements, and also deprived of keyboards or most folk instruments. Exactly – there aren’t any keyboards, samples, orchestrations or other overdubs on this album, and Svartsot perfectly manages to reach an imposing, epic dimension without any of those. The almost outrageously clean production must certainly help, though some will most probably complain the guitars don’t sound raspy enough or the overall atmosphere lacks of haze, cold and mystery. Indeed, if Viking metal is often considered as a mere subgenre of black metal, Svartsot denies almost every BM element apart from frequent black-ish, shrieking backing vocals, but those still aren’t predominant, the lead vocals sounding closer from typical low-pitched death metal growls. Blasbeats are lacking as well, what may sound surprising, but far from disagreeable, at a time every band on Earth willing to sound a single bit heavy fills each of its songs with them.

Pretending this act does care for subtlety would be however far-fetched. The fourteen tracks that counts the “complete” edition are all built on the same pattern, without almost any exception. An elementary folk-rooted tune repeated with little variation from the beginning to the end, dominated by a very sharp flute which most of time doubles one of the two guitars, and sometimes the at first unexpected presence of a mandolin. No other so-called traditional instrument – no accordion, no pipes, no jaws harp, and very few acoustic guitars. But the sheer simplicity of the tracks is compensated by their length first: when the longest one clocks at 4:36 the risk of excessive monotony is lessened, provided all songs sound different enough – and they do. Then the whole album is caught in such an epic whirlwind that little time is granted to really think about it. Of course while listening with a really ill-oriented, criticizing spirit, it may come to mind the guys abuse a bit too much of the “marching tune” theme, of fast bouncing drums, of berserker roars and others hey, hey, ho! that become slightly annoying in the long term, but those are minor, easily forgiven flaws – they’re obviously taking their part a bit too seriously, that’s all.

Singling out “best” songs isn’t easy matter, as this album is remarkably consistent in spite of its high number of tracks. No ballad of course – could you a single moment imagine berserkers caring for ballads? Tunes like Festen or Havets Plage show a festive, polka vibe reminding of bands like Finntroll or Korpiklaani, the lead tune of Spillemandens Dåse carries a strong medieval atmosphere, while the majestic Jotunheimsfoerden leans more toward the bombastic Viking metal Moonsorrow are known for. As already mentioned a good number of songs otherwise sound more like bastardized Windir worship, Nidvisen being certainly the most striking example – but going through each track would quickly lead to another sterile exercise. Svartsot isn’t certainly the most original band out there, but these six guys seem to show such an inalienable faith in what they’re playing (in every sense of the word) that they’re now likely to conquer you too, as practically nothing could stop a horde of crazy, brainwashed Viking warriors.

Highlights: Gravøllet, Jotunheimsfoerden, Spillemandens Dåse, Havets Plage

Well, it has happened. The Danish Viking/folk metal sextet of Svartsot has finally released a full-length album with big record label, Napalm Records. With much promise from their first two demos, Svartsot was sure to turn some heads with their new album, “Ravnenes Saga”. With this album boasting a good solid eleven tracks and thirteen on the bonus edition, it is certainly able to do just that.

Let me first start out with the production. It certainly shatters anything they’ve done on previous demos. No instrument was left out in the mix, the folk instruments even stood out in the foreground. I guess what really stands out in the production is Claus’ powerful vocals, weather it be his deep death metal growls or his high pitched black metal screams.

As for the music itself, it’s kind of hard to compare to any other band in the Viking/folk metal genre. The folky parts of the album are something I’ve heard many times in the past from bands like Cruachan, Eluveitie, and Pagan Reign, just to name a few. As for their metal side, it almost seems death metal oriented with a tinge of Viking/black metal. When you combine the folk and death metal parts, you have yourself a original sound that it Svartsot. Some of the Viking chants on the album are quite catchy, reminds me of some Thyrfing or Moonsorrow. Just the melody from the intro of “Jotunheimsfærden” re-recorded for this album, will be sure to stick in everyone’s head.

So overall, Svartsot’s long awaited full-length album “Ravnenes Saga” is sure to turn some heads in the folk metal world with their almost new original sound. This album will certainly be a favorite in anyone’s Viking/folk metal collection, I know it certainly will be one of mine.

Standout tracks-“Jotunheimsfærden”, “Brages Bæger”, “Havets Plage”.