Band : Svartsot
Album title : Maledictus Eris
Label : Napalm Records
Distributor : Rough Trade Benelux.
Release date : 29/07/2011
Release : CD

It has to be admitted. It's been quite a while since I've seen such a beautiful cover artwork as for Svartsot's new album, called Maledictus Eris. The colours, evil creatures and composition really make it stand out. With Maledictus Eris, the Danish folk metal band Svartsot are ready to present their third album already; a wonderful album that every fan of this metal genre should have in his/her record collection.
On Maledictus Eris, Svartsot depicts the images of the horrible black plague that terrorised the whole of Europe in the 14th century. These Danish metallians describe how they saw their families being absorbed by the cruel disease. This truly is the ideal story to translate into pitch black music and as a result, they did this excellently!
On Maledictus Eris, we are treated to some outstanding melodic tunes that get you headbanging in no time. Some of the songs, such as Dodedansen, strongly remind us of the early Amon Amarth, while in Farsoten Kom, we are swept away by pounding pirate screams and singalongs tunes. The album on its whole is very sinister though exciting to listen to. Spigrene is the only exception to this rule. However, it's not to be missed, since it's a welcome and breathtaking acoustic ballad. I really hope the next album will contain more songs like these.
With Maledictus Eris, Svartsot succeeded to create an outstanding folk metal album. It's very mature and makes us long for more.

87/100

Tim