Apoch's Metal Review - Svarttjern: Towards the Ultimate CD Review

Discography	Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Full-Length(s):	Misanthropic Path of Madness (2009) • Towards the Ultimate (2011)
Demo(s):	Blasphemic War (2005) • Raped by Svarttjern (2006) • Demo (2008)

Review

Svarttjern's journey in the Black Metal field started back in 2003. However, it was not until 2005 that the band started putting out their demo material. After three demos, the group finally found a home with Schwarzdorn Records, who put out their debut full-length effort Misanthropic Path of Madness in 2009. After some relatively good feedback towards the album from fans of the style, as well as critics, Svarttjern returned to the studio to issue their follow-up two years later. Towards the Ultimate marks a band that many claim is True Norwegian Black Metal, as well as the band. But, does this "true" Norwegian Black Metal outfit offer listeners an truly enjoyable experience, or does Towards the Ultimate end up an ultimate disaster for the style?

It's been great to experience Black Metal albums, especially those claiming to be the "True Norwegian" brand of the style, taking on a more modern sound then falling victim to the pretfalls of the common "kvlt" style. Towards the Ultimate's audio sounds clean and modern without any sanitation occuring. The guitars here sound pretty deep, leaving behind that favored sharper approach, and is backed nicely by the bass to give the material a far more blunt edge that hammers away. The tone and atmosphere that Svarttjern establish is simply black, but there's nothing else outside of that, which is one of the better elements of the recording. Even the drumming doesn't try to go off and establish some kind of ritualistic environment for the sake of an additional environment to the music. The bass kicks on the kit have a subtle click to them that isn't overpowering and allows the full sounding snares to shine through nicely with cymbols that match in volume to them and the other instruments here. The vocals are your traditional rhaspier Black Metal wail, though these are a bit more grounded and sinister without going too far into the higher pitch, working well with that blackened vibe the material sets up. Of course, they can add a bit of a haunting tone to the material when it goes a bit slower, such as during some parts of "Superior Growth" which end up being a bit creepy mixed with traditional early Black Metal and that generally light-less atmosphere the rather crushing music creates throughout the song, building up right from the start into faster paced brutality, shifting in and out between the speeds nicely thanks to strong transitions.

One thing that really comes through with Svarttjern on this effort is the more intense and aggressive sound. While the band may perform "True Norwegian Black Metal," you can really feel a strong modern influence to their material, at least in it's attitude. And that's exactly how the release starts off: Hostile. "Breathing Soil" kicks things off with a moderately fast offering of pure intensity that seems to have no problem going for the juggular right away. The music itself is solid from start to finish and captures the spirit of their brand of the Black Metal sound, and it works well with crushing music and hard hitting drums. However, the slower material here definitely stands out the most. "Superior Growth" was already mentioned in the review, but it stands as one of the band's pinncale tracks to this release. The ability to progress the music from start to finish, and back off from the built up attitude and fury that comes at the listener so well without really losing anyone around able to hear it is simply fantastic. However, this and "Breathing Soil" may be strong, but they don't really give you the urge to start headbanging along. Luckily, those kinds of tracks do exist on this album as well.

"Hellig Jerd" is the first time you'll really encounter this approach. It's more mid-tempo pace really allows the catchier Black Metal groove to latch into the listener and allow the headbanging to commence out of pure instinct. The song also takes that black atmosphere and seems to add a bit of a more mystifying aura to it without having to resort to ritualistic drumming to portray a generic conept of early seven wave Black Metal. The more modern, clearer production really captures the impact that the crushing guitars and bass give to the song. "I AM the Path Part II" is another headbang mandatory track with some really catchy and soul crushing guitar work against heavy, faster paced double bass kicks at the start that tone down a bit as you go through, which only aid into making the track's burdening sound and atmosphere stronger. It does hammer into faster paced material littered with blastbeats, and they do feel natural to the progression of the song as it goes into a more epic chorus that really stands as one of the more memorable moments of the album, and really shows off what Svarttjern can be capable of despite playing it a little safe musically to feed the more traditional "true" Black Metal approach then the potential they can bring to the table. "Unmasked Violation of Life" seems to suffer from this, and leaves the track's more traditional Black Metal approach to sound a little less intimidating then some of the other tracks of the release, though Towards the Ultimate does kind of make up for it with the commanding "For What Blooms Without Lust" that closes out the album with a very march-like approach with a solid instensity and performance backing the early second wave Black Metal sound against some more modern blastbeat riddled passages.

There honestly isn't anything negative you say about this release. As far as "True" Black Metal goes, Towards the Ultimate is a pretty strong album, though it seems to hold itself back a little bit to fit into that classification towards the style. But, that's about it. Svarttjern issue another strong effort well looking into that feels as black as the explanation of the music they play. There's a good deal of energy laced with catchy material ranging from slower to faster paces, all woven together with a strong audio quality that keeps the heaviness alive and well. If you haven't had the opportunity to sit back and check this group, or just like well executed music of this genre, then Towards the Ultimate is well worth checking out.

Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Agonia Records.

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