Svartkraft
II - The Twilight Void

In 2003, the Svartkraft project was born from Nargath, who aims to both pay homage to the black that influenced him and continue to expose the rawest and "satanic" side of his black.

This is the second chapter, where, although his intentions were to be inspired by the darkthronian sounds, the profound influence of Burzum does not fade into the background at all.
So, after 3 years from "Den Onda Pesten," an album that is not long is proposed, featuring both connections with the previous one and new emotional and sound choices that seem to hint at a stylistic change in this project as well. I sincerely hope not.

However, one finds a good album that is not exceptional but not negligible either, as can already be noticed from "Dweller Of The Twilight Void," which manages to be both pleasant and nocturnal. Certainly, the impact is decidedly lesser compared to the better "Den Onda Pesten," which certainly highlighted a more fertile inspiration. The recording is carefully curated in its wanting to appear raw, yet it doesn't give the slightest impression of hypocrisy. The scream is the usual typical of Nargath, both lacerating and powerful. The bass lines are the shadow of those of the guitar. Both the riffs and the fast tempos seem to be akin to those of Darkthrone, but "Brightest Star, Darkest Sun" still bares the influence of Burzum, too much: the main riff is, willingly or not, from "Det Som Engang Var". It can be taken as a half cover, if you want to see it humorously. The unpleasant surprise lies in the third track, where there's an attempt to give space to clean vocals decidedly out of place in the Svartkraft (black force) project! However, even in this track, the levels are neither exciting nor depressing nor boring. What you hear in "The Lurker" is also ambiguous, as it is still a good track, only this time in the wrong project, as it would have made much more sense in a Wyrd album. Furthermore, as the album progresses, there's a gradual slowing of tempos compared to the beginning, as if he recorded all the tracks in one day and towards the end fatigue prevailed. Not that this is formally wrong, but only conceptually. "Across The Nightmare Seas" even proposes tempos and inspirations transfused from doom. The closure is "The Lost Art Of Necromancy," which after a dark ambient interlude reintroduces the riff of the first track, as if wanting to close the circle, perhaps to give sense to the cover...

I am not on a hunt for errors, because the album is absolutely successful, only that probably I expected more.