Srodek – Förfall (2011)

Featuring a session member of Svarti Loghin, Srodek brings us with their second full-length “Förfall”, a total of 37 minutes of bleak and depressive Post-Black Metal. While Srodek is not as good as Svarti Loghin and genre heroes Lantlôs, this one man project does a pretty solid job in creating desolate landscapes and populates them with Post-Rock/Black Metal elements.

With the eloquent name of Nekrofucker, the band mastermind gives us 7 tracks that have a very familiar Svarti Loghin sound. While this is not completely bad, we can’t help but wonder where the creativity presented in “En Hälsning Till Döden” has gone. But it’s not all bad news since some moments of this release set it apart and make up for a good album.

After a very mystical opening track “Echoes from the Past”, Srodek goes into full on Svarti Loghin mode with “Bleak” and “Förfall”. These two tracks feel like carbon copies of tracks by Svarti Loghin featuring similar structures and even the same atmosphere. However, with “Rotboskogens Djup” mister Necro creates a more crushing and convincingly ‘original’ atmosphere than with the first tracks. We particularly love the rawness and chaotic feel of this song.

“Vågtjärns Svarta Vatten” is also another highlight in this release since it features the perkiness of the first two tracks but with a crushing bass guitar line and nice melodic passages. The vocals are very raw and devilish sounding and should easily impress the occasional hard-core Black Metal fan that might wonder around listening to this release.

Just before the dissonant “Outro” song, we have “Ödestad” featuring a hefty dose of depressive Black Metal with some creepy vocals and samples in the background. All instruments a very well played in this release and even the drumming sounds pretty solid for a one-man band, greatly added by the mix, this release sounds excellent. If you are in the market for another Post-Black Metal album, you should definitely check Srodek out.

Release: March 1st, 2011

Country: Sweden