Witnessing the Fall

Blending together death and black metal, Svart Crown doesn’t break any boundaries on their sophomore major effort Witnessing the Fall, but nonetheless does its job - of bringing forth some utterly evil audial chaos - rather convincingly. While the band mostly focuses on heavy and averagely technical rhythmic patterns - both riff and drum-wise - not to forget the death metal growls, there’s a lot of religious black metal atonality going on in the melody department as well, making a sweet, albeit not entirely original, 46-minute whole of modern extreme metal.

What comes to individual songs on Witnessing the Fall, the album suffers from being a little generic: had this album been released in 2000 instead of 2010, I’m sure it would have triggered the interest of a wider audience, being on the quality level of e.g. Averse Sefira. But now, compared to all the other albums in the field (like the just recently reviewed Erebus by the Polish group Hate), Witnessing the Fall does little to shock the listener, no matter how convincingly Svart Crown delivers its malicious sounds and how well the members handle their instruments (after all, Witnessing the Fall is technically far from the cheapest and easiest metal albums).

Hence I find it hard to name even any particular standout moments from the album, but what is certain is that Witnessing the Fall moves enough swiftly not to bore me: tempo is often kept at high levels but there are slightly slower moments too amidst all the constant firing. ”An Eternal Descent” is worth mentioning, building up to a sweet melodic climax in the end, and the ending track ”Of Sulphur and Fire” partially laden with doom metal slowness and murkiness. Overall, Witnessing the Fall is a successful release that could however do better by adding something more original to the mix, but I’m certain that this satisfies many black/death metal listeners as it is.


3 / 5
[ http://www.vehementconjuration.com/ ]

Svart Crown is a French act attempting to bind together the harrowing force of brutal death metal ala Morbid Angel, Vader, Behemoth and Deicide, with the bleeding convulsions of black metal tremolo picking. They succeed in this, not because it's unnaturally difficult, but due to their rare ability to layer a number of twisted, unexpected melodies into their rhythms that add a pulsing, organic gravitas to their misanthropic demesne. The result is an effort that not only weighs off sequences of haunting atmosphere and abrupt aural incisions on a cautious scale, but actually manifests in memorable, spike-like writing that wedges itself directly between the two halves of your soft and sloppy mind.

I can't say I love the vocals of JB Le Bail, which are your pretty standard accumulation of David Vincent and similar influences, but they have never really failed at propelling this style, nor do they here. Blunt, caustic and to the point, while his guitars collide with those of Klem Flandrois to create acrobatic, acerbic strains of hostile melodies in "Dogs of Gods", "An Eternal Descent", and "Colosseum". The drums are manic, blasting appropriately where necessarily, a process that could become dull if the guitars weren't always diverting your ears; but nonetheless the product of an boundlessly energetic superhuman. Often the band will slow for some rolling, chugged material as in "Into a Demential Sea" or "Strength Higher Than Justice", but the fact that they keep their crisp, bright, punchy and organic guitar tones here goes a long way to evade the sense of plodding, pedestrian breakdowns that many similar bands suffer from.

Witnessing the Fall is a step up over the band's debut Ages of Decay, but there is still some room for growth. The vocals could certainly be more versatile than this to better effect. Also, the transitions are competent but they rarely offer much of an impact, merely cycling from one adequate sequence to the next, but often incapable of setting up one another for a seething storm of menace. That said, if you break down the components, most of the riffs on the album are quality, and I must reiterate that I love the sincerity of the mix, which sounds like you could be sitting in the rehearsal room with the band, but clean and clear. If you're a massive fan of the Morbid Angel albums Altars of Madness, Domination and Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, and seeking similar sounds, then this is certainly worth checking out, but I did get the tugging impression that true brilliance is still eluding these French hopefuls.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com