Svartkrig

Svartkrig - Fimbulvetr
Drakkar Productions, 2006
Genre: Black Metal

1. Intro
2. Fimbulvetr
3. Funeral Raid on Christiandom
4. At the Gates of Nestrandir
5. Sons of the One-Eyed
6. The Battle of Vigrid Began
7. Falling on the Battlefield









Here's one of the more baffling things I've come across.  Here is the band Svartkrig and don't be fooled by their name, they're from France!  According to Metal-Archives this is also the only band with this name.  I find that incredibly shocking for some reason... I feel like this would be an immediate go-to name for the Scandinavian countries.  Anyway, this tape is limited to an unknown amount of hand-numbered copies and I have copy 277.  It's a dubbed tape with a pro-printed booklet.

Svartkrig play a very raw form of Black Metal.   Through the very harsh production, I get the impression this band is performing a style that is similar in feel to the early 90's french acts.  I would even say it is similar to some of the material being produced by the LLN when they were still quite active.  Sometimes the brilliance of the musicians can really shine through the recording quality, but I don't think Svartkrig ever did for me.  They sound like a fine band, but that's all.  They're not incredible, they're good at what they do, but nothing really captured my attention like some other bands manage.  The one song that really stood out to me was "At the Gates of Nestrandir" and I thought this was quite an excellent song overall.  I think if most of the tracks had this kind of writing I would've found the demo a lot more appealing.

If your really into raw and under-produced Black Metal you may find Svartkrig worth checking out.  For me their songs weren't good enough to keep my interest.  The recording quality is just good enough and you can hear all the instrumentation enough to understand what's going on.  Sometimes this production can give the band even more of a harsh atmosphere, but I feel like it's just in the way of what Svartkrig is trying to do.  It's not like Moonblood where they really shine with this kind of production.

In the end, here's a sample in case someone likes this material more than me.  This probably isn't going to be something I listen to much.  Hopefully this helped someone find a new band they enjoy either way!