Review: Svarti Loghin - “Drifting Through The Void” (2010)
At first listen, it may seem like with Drifting Through the Void, Svarti Loghin are attempting to jump on the bandwagon of bands like Alcest, Amesoeurs or Lantlôs with their blend of black metal and elements of shoegaze and indie rock. And while certainly there are stylistic similarities between Svarti Loghin and those bands, this Swedish group have clearly carved out their own sound and are pushing the boundaries of black metal in a direction that is all their own.
Of course, the real question with bands such as Svarti Loghin who mix various styles is always “does it work?”. And ultimately, while a couple of the clean vocal parts on the album seemed a bit misplaced, the band’s core approach to songwriting is one of those combinations that just clicks. The guitars are obviously firmly rooted in depressive black metal, crafting very repetitive and hypnotic riffs, but the melodies switch between being contemplative and somewhat depressive to surprisingly uplifting, while the screamed vocals alternately lend an anguished feel and a more hopeful air to the songs. It’s this duality that defines much of the music on Drifting Through The Void, and it works quite well.
Admittedly, the album isn’t perfect. The clean vocals have a weird, almost country vibe to them, which didn’t go well with the rest of the album. Fortunately they only appear briefly in parts of a couple songs. And while the cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Planet Caravan’ isn’t bad, it’s kind of like trying to cover ‘All Along The Watchtower.’ No matter how good Svarti Loghin is, the Pantera version is hard to top.
With Drifting Through The Void, Svarti Loghin have managed to find that perfect middle ground, creating an album of rare beauty and melodicism that doesn’t sacrifice its blackened edge. It’s definitely on the same side of the spectrum as Alcest and the other shoegazey black metal bands that seem to be all the rage right now. It’s rather surprising that they haven’t gotten a great deal of attention, since their debut Empty World was also very good. Hopefully this album will help to fix that.
