Svartsot is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Formed in 2004, the band changed its musical direction and name the following year. Now led by Cris Frederiksen (guitar/folk instruments/backing vocals), Hans-Jørgen Martinus Hansen (flute/folk instruments), Thor Bager (vocals), Michael Alm (guitar/backing vocals), Simon Buje (bass), and Rune Frisch (drums, Forever Still), the Danish band unveils its sixth album, Peregrinus.
The band kicks off with a lively introduction called Como poden per sas culpas, a fairly short but catchy track that allows us to familiarize ourselves with their energy once again before moving on to Tarditas, which immediately darkens the atmosphere and also features the first vocal parts. The Folk touches remain catchy, while the rest of the rhythm section is much more aggressive, as on Communitas, which allows itself a few melancholic tones from time to time, but also offers unifying and catchy passages. There are also a few accelerations in the heavy riffs, but Simplicitas once again changes the atmosphere with its haunting and disturbing notes infused with some more brutal Black/Pagan influences, which are just as interesting to explore. The softness continues with the introduction of Libertas, which is much calmer and haunted by whispers and other choirs before showing its true colors with jerky riffs, but the harmonics also end up multiplying before the band accelerates again on Neglentia. The sound also becomes heavier, reinforced by warlike choirs, but also a fairly aggressive groove and vindictive drums, before allowing us a new moment of respite with Spiritualitas and its mysterious notes. The entire track is imbued with these tones, which become almost ritualistic and then intensify again at the end before giving way to Via Dolorosa, which returns to its festive Folk roots, which will undoubtedly be most effective live. The album ends with Silentium, where the band adopts a musical simplicity that allows the vocalist to redouble his intensity, sometimes even becoming plaintive to announce the fiery rhythms that give him little bursts of acceleration before he is reduced to silence.
The contrast between brutality and playful tones is very strong in Svartsot, making their mix immediately catchy. Peregrinus remains a fairly varied album that doesn’t hesitate to venture into all areas to convince.
85/100