Band: Svarttjern
Title: Towards The Ultimate
Label: Agonia Records
Distribution: Bertus
Release date: September 25th 2011 (Europe) / October 25th 2011 (North America)
Review: CD

Svarttjern (meaning ‘black tarn’) were formed by two brothers, HaaN and Ragnarok’s Hansfyrste (real name: Hans Fryste) in 2003, and throughout the years they evolved into a ‘real band’ after recruiting permanent members. After a couple of demos, a first full length came out: Misanthropic Path Of Madness, Schwarzdorn Productions (2009), and shortly after the (in mean time) quintet signed to happy-shiny-people-label Agonia Records – a collaboration resulting into the release of the second full length, Towards The Ultimate (originally foreseen for half 2010).

Towards The Ultimate goes partly on in the vein of the debut, which in general means that this band is a Norwegian act that does not sound like most Norwegian formations, yet rather like a Norwegian-inspired Swedish one. Hell (or Heaven) yeah, why not?
In comparison to the debut, Towards The Ultimate is little less violent or vengeful, yet at least it is as impressively ominous and sinister. The balance still focuses on the equilibrium melody, speed and brutality at the one hand, and madness, grimness and evilness at the other. But the decreased extremity is not ignorable. The whole forty one muscled minutes whirl and hammer, with a tempo that is mainly focused on everything in between kinetic energy and hyper-speed blast.
It has all to do with paths walked over before, borders crossed before, or even worlds conquered before; freely translated: lacking any originality, sometimes rather evident, even predictable. Qualitatively: satisfying, e(a)rotically fulfilling and getting better towards as from the second part of the album.
As mentioned before: unlike most Norwegian bands, Svarttjern do not sound ‘Nordic’, going for both atmosphere and sound, yet the main inspirations come from the most infernal level of the Swedish scene instead. What these Norwegians bring goes on in the vein of, say, Setherial, Dark Funeral, Naglfar, Necrophobic, Marduk, Thy Primordial, Blodsrit or Dissection, to name but just a few. Yet the production / sound - and that for sure has to do with the recording sessions, including final mix and mastering, at Norway’s Strand Studio - adds the ice-cold atmosphere that sort of characterises many fellow country bands and projects. As if Marduk or Dark Funeral recorded new stuff in studios like Grieghallen, Panser or Akkerhaugen, you see…

86,⅔/100

Ivan Tibos.