SVARTSOT - Ravnenes Saga

Svartsot - Ravnenes Saga

12 songs
46:08 minutes
***** *
Napalm

Bandpage

After two EPs, Danish folk metal band Svartsot, has finally released its first full length album. The band which has been founded in 2002 uses quite typical folk metal gimmicks like flutes combined with the classic metal instruments and lyrics dealing with Danish folklore and other Scandinavian myths.

What distinguishes Svartsot from other folk influenced metal bands are doubtlessly the vocals. While bands like Tyr and Falconer use clearer and cleaner vocals. Svartsot prefer harsher and rougher moods with a definite death and black metal background. I consider myself a folk metal fan, just as I like occasionally some black and death metal. Unfortunately the mixture of these two so different music genres doesn’t convince me very much, at least the way Svartsot are practising it.

Ravnenes Saga takes advantage from a solid production. There’s nothing to be said against the technical prowess of the band members, but the brutal vocals would have rather fitted a more extreme metal band. Also I couldn’t find a stand-out track. After four songs, you have already heard everything Svartsot have to offer and do not expect anything new to surface during the next half hour. Even though some tracks aren’t too bad (Jotunheimsfaerden, Spillemandens Däse), there are also a few real blackouts (Brages Baeger, Havets Plage) and a lot of material that can only be classified as average merchandise.

Monotony and awful vocals are unfortunately destroying the potential that may be lurking behind Svartsot. Their label wants to declare them as the new generation of folk metal, but I think that there’s still a long way to go for Svartsot. And with the competition as hard as it is right now in this musical genre, I doubt that they will reach their aim anytime soon if they don’t add a serious effort.

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