Svartfell – Apocryphe Apocalypse (2012)

Delivering nine Black Metal aural assaults, today we have Svartfell and ‘their’ third full-length release titled “Apocryphe Apocalypse”. This one-man band from France does a great job in crafting brutal BM tunes in a very raw and powerful way. In the days when many BM releases focus on being ‘pretty’ and ‘nice’ sounding, it is refreshing to hear something as filthy and destructive as “Apocryphe Apocalypse”.

After the pummeling opening track “Terribilis Est Locus Iste”, the band delivers very crushing riffs on “The Crimson Cross”. All drums are real in this release and this greatly enhances the experience over most one-man band that use drum machines and sound like total ass. The production however is a bit weak and makes the guitars wobble a bit and also distorts the sound of the cymbals. The vocals sound either distorted or have some kind of FX behind them, and while it sounds weird, it actually makes them more brutal and fitting for the music.

Our favorite track in this releases is the excellent “Depth of the Sacred Stone”, a very typical BM track with some sick opening riffs. The tempo is quite intoxicating thanks to some very cool and untraditional changes. The melodic passage in this song is top notch and creates a very disturbing and evil atmosphere. One of the best things about “Apocryphe Apocalypse” is that all the songs have something unique to them, making them very diverse and highly entertaining, something very rare in BM releases these days.

The sick riffing of “INRI - Igne Natura Renovatur Integra” make this song another one of our favorites. Closing the release we have the devastating “Mountains of Doom – Part II” and the traditional outro “Maleficicum”. The outro features some creepy vocals alongside some very basic keyboards, making it kind of effective thanks to the very amateur sound to it.

Overall, “Aprocyphe Apocalypse” is a release with tons of excellent ideas. The production values leave a bit to be desired since they make some parts of the release sound distorted and not enjoyable. This one-man band has great ideas and some brilliant melodic sections that when put together they give you eight very unique sounding tracks. If you are looking for old-school sounding (read: “weak production”) Black Metal, this is an album that is definitely worth your time and money.

Release: June 15th, 2012

Genre: Black Metal

Country: France