Herstellerinformationen
Via Nocturna
Wałowa 7
47-341 Stradunia, Poland
info@vianocturna.com
01. Through Lakes, Forests and Swamps
02. Expelling the Zmei
03. The Essence of Decline
04. Heart of Stone
05. In the Land Called Night
06. Venomous Words of Virtue
07. Lost in the Carpathian Forest
SVAR, Kamil Bolesta's solo project, has been around since 2020. After his first EPs in 2021 and 2022, he created his first album, In The Land Called Night, in 2024. SVAR's interpretation of black metal is raw, original and draws on the roots of the genre. The pagan metal influence gives the whole thing an individual touch that runs through the entire album. With 43 minutes divided into 7 tracks, you are immersed in a world full of myths.
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Another day, another Polish black metal act, and once again the Polish crowd delivers. This time we are dealing with a one-man project driven by a young man named Kamil. He founded Svar in 2020 and after two EPs he delivers a full length comprising of seven tracks and 42 minutes of playing time. Coming with a cover art work kept in darkish blue with glimpses of moon-lit yellow and some contours of mystic pillars standing firm in the night “In the Land Called Night” sounds exactly like it looks. This is some powerfully performed old school black metal that throws you 30 years back in time. For some this might sound tiresome but for others this album offers everything you can hope for when looking for a classic piece of 90s goodness written and played with an abundance of passion and Talent.
While a lot of his fellow countrymen pepper their black metal with slightly dissonant elements Kamil decided to go full Nordic with Svar. Without any kind of intro or other foreplay the first track “Through Lakes, Forests and Swamps” storms right out of the gate. A bit of blasting is soon joined by a nice lead guitar harmony and the gnarling vocals. After half of the song, we get some great variation with the guitars opening up and serving some delicious melodic themes and soloing. What this record might lack in innovation it more than makes up for with its captivating harmonies and clever song writing. Kamil has a great feeling for the grandiose, sweeping melodies that permeate throughout the record. They add an extra dimension and transport the listener’s mind to the cold tundra and abandoned castles. What we got here is a cohesive and very versatile piece of music with the songs blending together and creating an album with an immersive overarching atmosphere.
The next two cuts more or less follow the blueprint defined by the opener while with the fourth cut “Heart of Stone” we get a surprisingly groovy mid-tempo stomper with the intense vocals making sure to send some shivers down your spine. This song is a melodic anthem of the highest order and shows an act capable of delivering this brand of metal in the best possible way. From the beginning of the album onwards you are bombarded with a lot of ideas and nicely constructed moments and Kamil does not let loose until the end. There are quite a lot of different layers and textures to elaborate on over the course of 40 minutes, and Svar often work with the contrasts of the grim and the grandiose. Sweepingly epic harmonies, the implementation of cold and icy main chords among a variety of other ingredients, help carry the music into the world of dark and misty realms.
The dark atmospherics, blackened melodic streaks, and dynamic shifts in emotional intensity are performed and arranged with professional enthusiasm. The end product is an impressive piece of music performed and produced with a lot of polish and energy. The sound is more or less perfect, very dynamic and transparent and on par with most of the bigger outputs by more prominent bands. Every instrument is in its place in the mix, with no aspect overpowering the others. There is something terrifyingly gripping about the visceral performances shown from the first note onwards, something touchingly genuine about the wistful melodies which dominate the whole record. Svar perfectly capture the scope of an epic landscapes covered in frost and snow and deliver one of the fines pure melodic black metal gems of the year. If you want a great throwback album that oozes the original spirit of what made this style great in the first place look no further than "In the Land Called Night"
Line up:
All instruments and vocals - Kamil "Hexed" Bolesta
Mix & Mastering - Mariusz Wołosz (Sound-Online)
Album cover - Dominika Maria "Yaggvh"
