Ravnenes Saga by Svartsot

Svartsot (http://www.svartsot.dk) – Ravnenes Saga

Napalm Records, 2007

I was out on iTunes the other night. I happened to have some credits to spend, and I was stumped for anything to download. I decided to do a search on bands similar to Korpiklaani (they'll be a subject for another time) and one of the top hits was the band Svartsot out of Randers, Denmark. There they've got two points going for them. 1, someone out there compared them to one of my current favorites, and 2, they're from Denmark...I've been looking for folk metal from Denmark. I decided to go for it and downloaded their 2007 album Ravnenes Saga. Today I finally got a chance to listen to the album.

The first thing that struck me as I listened is that there is no Korpiklaani in there that I can find. Instead, I was greeted with something that reminded me a little more of Finntroll. The music is generally fairly heavy with the occasional “humpa lumpa” rhythms thrown in for luck. At the same time they make use of Irish whistles, mandolins and other more traditional instruments over the heavier riffs producing some interesting melodies that produce a contrast that gives a wider dimension to the music. Over the top of all this the vocals are delivered in a style very much like those of Sweden's Amon Amarth (http://www.amonamarth.com/) (another subject for another day). Overall Svartsot, at least on this album, do a very good job at combining rhythms and melodies to produce music that can stand on its own without requiring lyrics to give value and meaning to the songs. This is important to those of us who don't speak the language in which the song is written. As a side note, I believe the lyrics are in Danish, but I'm not certain. I have to admit that sometimes I just can't quite make out the lyrics in this vocal style until I've had a chance to read them, and I haven't been able to track down Svartsot's lyrics yet.

I won't bother giving a play by play of the tracks. Instead I'll just say that I think that these guys are a decent find. They've added yet another unique twist on the Death/Viking/Folk Metal Genre, and in my opinion they've pulled it off pretty well. Head over to their site. They've got some of their tunes to check out, and once you've done that spend a few bucks and buy the album. It's worth it.

If you've taken the time to read this feel free to take the time to talk back. The reason I'm here is to try to share some really cool music that you may or may not have heard of. I'm also here to find out about bands that I haven't heard of yet.