#Sarvekas Woven Dark Paths

Band: Sarvekas
Title: Woven Dark Paths
Label: Soulseller Records
Release date: 26 May 2023
Country: Finland
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

Sarvekas is a Finnish Black Metal band that started their musical path in December 2020 with their debut EP “Of Atavistic Fury & Visions”, 5 tracks of icy, aggressive and dark Black Metal wrapped in a great atmosphere… Now this duo wants to conquer our black hearts again with this full-length, “Woven Dark Paths”, and let me tell you, they succeed in this commitment.

Starting with “Rite of Transcendence”, a short intro that seems a soundtrack for some ancient rites indeed, I like this folk instrumental piece ‘cause it’s preparing your ears for the fast attack that is “The Scryer of Bones”, a piece perfectly mixing the icy cold sound of Finnish Black Metal with a fitting bleak atmosphere. Damn, I really like what I hear! Somber guitar tone, riffs and blast beats entwined in dark and repetitive patterns, with vocals that are ready to invoke some forgotten old spirits… really good!

The songs in this album are distilling “old times” vibes, there’s a lot of passages with brilliant melodies, and the main feeling I have while listening to it is a mix of deja vu (‘cause I’m thinking of bands that it seems has clearly influenced to their sound) and enjoyment. Not bad at all! The starting of the song “Woven Dark Paths” has that mid-tempo melody that is not going out of my head for hours, and I like that I’m clearly listening to the two guitars and the bass, not only just one instrument burying the others.

Extremely cold tremolo riffs are played at the beginning of “The Austerity of the Northern Lands”, and when vocals enter there’s a big cloak of obscurity covering you. And again, your mind travels to older times… These guys have been drinking in the old pagan Finnish wellsprings and that’s really noticeable, like in the closing theme “The Great Winter”, seven minutes of immersion in the blackest and coldest waters of a remote lake, where no one can find you.

This is a very enjoyable album, I like the old pagan vibes, the “a bit buried in the mix but not so much” vocals, the kind of triumphant melodies in some songs… I give this 8,5/10 Sílvia

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8,5/10 To Greatness and Glory!
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