Album Review: Svart Vinter – Isvind
Band: Svart Vinter
Title: Isvind
Label: Non Serviam Records
Release date: May 30th 2025
Country: Italy
Format reviewed: High quality digital recording
Album Review: Svart Vinter – Isvind via Non Serviam Records by Michelle
Here’s yet another atmospheric black metal band I found quite interesting given the looks of both the logo and album cover, except the music itself is amazing, a rawness highly accentuated with a lot of effort put into their sound. Despite being an italian outfit, their name is norwegian/swedish for “black winter”, an interesting aspect if you sit and think about it, mostly because a lot of bands usually use the language of the country they are from. Either that or references from literature/religion/history. But leaving all of this chattering away, let’s focus on what Svart Vinter has to offer us.
I knew that from the very first track I’d love this album, because like I said in many previous reviews, I’m really into catchy and bouncy riffs, and that’s exactly what Svart Vinter seems to be aiming at. There looks to be two guitars, one leading the main riffs while the other accentuates the atmospheric sound of album with the tremolo picking and distortsion.
The screams and growls are highly accentuated aswell, concentrating on a sorrowness into a deeper level with the high pitched chanting.
I feel like it’s important to mention that the type of sound this band is presenting is also what drawns me in when it comes to black metal, because not only it is meaningful with the emotions it helds out, but also since the music itself sounds good. An example would be starting from minute 2:30 of ‘Frozen Tomb’, which features the start of a gloomy sounding riff combined with a highly pitched scream. I don’t want to upset anyone, but sometimes too much distortsion to the point where the riffs are unrecognizable isn’t really my cup of tea, so it’s quite refreshing to discover artists such as Svart Vinter.
‘Abyss’ starts off calm, the music feeling like just some plain ambience before a scream makes its way in, creating the beginning of an enjoyable instrumental, I could say. At some point the riffs slow down, creating the perfect atmosphere for a downtuned and sorrowful pause.
The song that caught my attention the most though is probably ‘Of Cold And Grief’, the starting riff combined with the rythmicness of the drums being fused perfectly together while still mentaining a gloomy ambience with the vocals and the sudden tempo change after. The song progresses from slow to fast multiple times, sending the listener into a state of melancholy yet still keeping an energetic aspect.
I’d say this is worth diving into, especially if you’re into the more atmospheric side of black metal, not to mention how underrated this band is. 10/10
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10/10 Immortal Classic
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