Sepultus, the full length debut from Sweden’s Svärta, is a bit of a mess of a record. At its core, it’s a whirring cacophony of unholy black/death racket, nearing war metal’s confrontational blur of sounds, but putting more emphasis on black metal’s blazing tremolo lines. At other times it will unexpectedly drop into ambient passages or take on a sense of suffering emotions, often without much warning or justification. The songwriting is uneven and often unfocused, while the performances are even a touch sloppy. On paper, Supultus is 40 minutes of Band Figuring It Out.
So why, with all of the more refined and spectacular metal available to my ears, can I not seem to quit this?
It might be that the slop adds to the album’s sense of art house filth, which comes primarily via a nasty production. Vorum delivered the goods with a similarly raw-to-the-bone treatment with this year’s excellent Current Mouth, but where they were doing a riff-until-you-die kind of grossness, Svärta is more artily dirty, like a seedy theater show in the most drug-ridden part of SoHo. Various characteristics add to this vibe: Vocals that range from belligerent and tortured to weirdly ritualistic, twists and turns such as a down-tempo, shimmery dirge during “Våndans Högborg,” that True Detective Season 2 band pic. Svärta knows that sometimes it’s good to get dirty, just make sure to bring your kinky animal masks.
Another reason why Sepultus isn’t leaving my earholes: when the songwriting hits, it absolutely kills, and when it kills, it’s usually during the album’s longest tracks. The aforementioned “Våndans Högborg” is a good one, but even better is the maniacal “Hädanfärdens sigil,” which essentially rides one huge riff pattern to utter exhaustion, but delivers it with such fierce determination as to make the song feel much briefer than its actual 8-plus minutes. Best of all is closer “Det sublima lidandet,” which begins with much of the band’s typical blast-happy violence but eventually morphs into a rather stunning conclusion. Piano, a post-metal infusion in the tremolo lines, and a humming organ all add a brand new vibe right at the end of the album. This rather beautiful moment, when mixed with all of the album’s schizo shifts and bursts of malevolence, really leaves you asking, “What exactly did I just hear?”
Which brings us to the biggest reason why Sepultus has stuck in my mind in spite of its flaws: Svärta is trying, and trying hard to find their own path. This band has ambition, and it has personality. The rawness and filth contribute as much to this as do the artistic vibe and emotional range. With some bands, waiting for them to figure it all out is a frustrating and patience-testing experience, but with others, it’s a constant piquing of curiosity. Svärta undoubtedly falls into this latter category. They might only be a great band about half of the time, but they’re always an interesting band, which may actually serve them better as they continue to explore their music.
