Viking metal – with all its chest-thumping machismo, folk music traditions and unusual instrumentation – is an acquired taste. I for one think it’s awesome and with their new album ‘Mulmets Viser’ (loosely translated “ballads from pitch darkness” ) it sounds like Danish outfit Svartsot are prepared to ram a horned helmet into an optional cavity of anyone who begs to differ.

I was very impressed with their latest effort, ‘Ravnenes Saga’, and if you are just mildly interested in folk metal I dare you, nay, I double dare you to listen to the new album and NOT get a sudden urge to burn down a village. Which is kind of odd as Svartsot now really has very little to do with the Svartsot responsible for ‘Ravnenes Saga’.

Metal bands can be quite like teenage girls in some ways and argue and fight and bicker and piss and moan about each other… Apparently the same thing happened to Svartsot, leaving guitarist Chris Frederiksen the sole remaining member. It seems, however, that Frederiksen was and is the brain of the operation as Svartsot 2.0 sounds remarkably like the original outfit.

Which is great. The interchanging between traditional growling vocals and a more evil-witch-like snarling works splendidly – as does the mix of brutal heavy guitars with whistles, accordions and mandolins. Yes, really.

Genre: Viking metal/folk metal
Who: Svartsot
Album: Mulmets Viser
Label: Napalm Records/Target Distribution
Year: 2010
Country: Denmark
Language: Danish
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