Destruction of Man

The world hasn’t seen a new Svartsyn long-player since 2020. Okay, let’s administrate this deficit and have a look at an older work of Mr. Ornias. “Destruction of Man” celebrates its 20th anniversary since its release this year. I cannot say that I listened to it again and again since then, because I needed all my capacities to follow all the interesting new releases from all over the world. (And of course, I also did not want to forget to listen to some old, real classics as well from time to… “Fight till Death”, “Countess Bathory”, “Necromantical Screams” and so on.)

However, let’s get back to “Destruction of Man”. I don’t think that Ornias won a lot of new fans with it. Not because it is bad, but it marks a very typical Svartsyn album. This means we get a pretty undifferentiated production where the drum has to struggle in order to be heard. Ornias’ voice is demonic as always and the guitar sound prevails. Its a thick and sick noise that the guitars create. Their melodies, and here we have the next typical detail, are somehow embraced by an opaque fog. It needs therefore time to decode their more or less enigmatic force. Okay, not all of them add value to the album. The overly hectic beginning of “Enemies from Beyond” does not convince me, but as the song progresses, it gets better and reaches a solid level. Finally, the album holds a third feature which is characteristic for Svartsyn’s art in general. The songs generate an infernal atmosphere. Welcome to a world where foul “values” like humanity or empathy do not play a role at all. Or to say it with Ornias: “civilization is earth’s cancer”. Good to know, one never stops learning.

The table that lists the similar artists does not lie. “Destruction of Man” sounds very well comparable with the early works of Arckanum. Only the shamanic components are missing. That's what happens when a few brainwaves don't go crazy in time. Anyway, the aforementioned similarity is the reason why that the full-length sounds very homogeneous. Just like Shamaatae, Ornias has put the focus on a constantly swirling sea of dark tones. As a consequence, he presents almost 42 minutes of uninterrupted rumbling, restless, menacing and intense black metal without significant ups and downs in terms of quality and, of course, without identifiable differences concerning the general appearance of the single tracks. Maybe some of them have a better flow than the rest. I guess that’s the reason why the centre of the album marks my favourite part. Despite their raw and unleashed appearance, “Demons Walking on Earth”, “Towards Chaos” (highlight!) and “Devil’s Image” boast with nearly smooth structures. But to avoid misunderstanding, there are more good songs to find here. “Children of Plague”, for instance, also delivers a wild ride through the abysses of the artist’s soul.

In its best moments, for example in some segments of “Towards Chaos”, the material generates a remarkable degree of depth. Ornias seems to love weird harmonies, but they reveal their might more and more with every new listening session. Therefore every fan of pure and nasty black metal can lend an ear here, but beware! If you do so, it will probably whet your appetite for a new Svartsyn release, but there is nothing to find in the “upcoming albums” section. Hopefully our creative friend Ornias knows what he has to do pretty soon.

Following the release of "The True Legend", a largely underrated album as a result of its horrible sound (back in the 1990's), SVARTSYN went into oblivion until the 21st century. And in 2003, they released a gem called "DESTRUCTION OF MAN". This fact is all the more surprising if you one takes into consideration the fact that Black Metal as a whole has been going down the drain since about 1998,so SVARTSYN have outdone most other bands in this respect. Let this review serve as an homage to their efforts!

Those looking for an "evolved" version of BM - i.e diluted and commercialized, by any Blacker's standards - had best steer clear of this album. "DESTRUCTION OF MAN", from any point of view, raises high the banner of Black Metal in its strict definition. It's absolutely merciless and raw, yet surprisingly manages to avoid any real buzz in the guitar sound. Some might argue that this CD/LP belongs in the 1990's and should never have been released afterwards, but this is not true by any means. This band deserves credit for playing Black Metal in its pure evilness and absence of flexibility. It sticks to the legacy of the albums (I dare not say bands) that once defined the above-mentioned style and still succeed in offering something personal. SVARTSYN have their own riffing and atmosphere and do not imitate anyone else. This is clearly mirrored on "DESTRUCTION OF MAN".

Let me end this by saying that SVARTSYN have spat in the face of commerce and trend, and have remained true to their own ideals. In some people's vocabulary, this fact might not mean much, but to me, and maybe to some of you out there, this album must be enjoyed fully. To the last drop of christian blood.

“I got some of that horrible sounding black metal you like so much coming your way!” my chief-editor told me at the Testament show in the Effenaar (Eindhoven, Holland). “You know, the kind that sounds like shit with a reverb.” Let’s just say that not everyone can appreciate the finer things in BM ‘cause I know for sure that he was talking about Svartsyn’s latest album called ‘Destruction of Man’. The sound indeed reminds me of the old Grieghallen recordings with the typically thick drum sound, buzz saw guitars and howling vocals laced with reverb and delay. Names that come to mind are early Enslaved, Immortal, Mayhem and Satyricon (I know, they didn’t record in Grieghallen but nonetheless the sound of this album lays quite close to ‘Dark Medieval Times’). This kind of music tends to have an almost ambient effect on me. It’s all so nice and gritty and yet fuzzy. The riffs are layered and melody is beautifully exploited going from almost serene to blood curdlingly evil. Closing my eyes I get washed away on this music and all kinds of daydreams take place in my mind. This music is all atmosphere and melancholia, windswept and frost-bitten. Beautiful and terrifying. I don’t know what it is with Scandinavian musicians but I have yet to hear anything remotely as good as this in the same style from anywhere else then there.

(This review was originally written for http://www.lordsofmetal.nl and is republished with kind permission of the webmaster)