Srodek
Förfall
Rating
Style: Black Metal
Release date: 1 March, 2011
Playing time: 37:15
 

Srodek is one of  those rare bands that actually lives up to every single stereotypical standards of its chosen style. We are dealing with a one-man, ultra underground, old school, Scandinavian black metal band. It is replete with all meta-musical trapments such as the unpronounceable name, the unreadable cryptogram of a logo, and a web presence that would create feelings of unending envy in secret black ops units.

In other words: My expectations were high, when I pressed play. I wanted to find out just how much Srodek lives up to his apparent affinity for the sub-underground. And I was not disappointed at all!

Förfall is covered, from start till end, in that very special kind of agonizing despair and weltschmerz, that created the true Scandinavian black metal sound back in the early 90's. This is dark, slow, gruelling, grim and literally hypnotic, forcing listeners into a nightmarish dreamscape, riding the Hel horse, through a mist of restless souls. Its hooves beating a slow rhythm, as it continues its never-ending journey trough the land of the dead. Its breath, a primal metallic scream, electrifies the air, pollution everything around it with the stench of dead hope.

Srodek belongs in the underworld - if that is a favorite source of music for you, check this album out!


Tracklist

1. Echoes from the Past (02:38)
2. Bleak (06:59)
3. Förfall (07:14)
4. Rotboskogens Djup (05:28)
5. Vågtjärns Svarta Vatten (05:22)
6. Ödestad (06:01)
7. Outro (03:33)

Label: A Sad Sadness Song
Distribution: Aeternitas Tenebrarum Music Foundation
Reviewed by: Martin Schjönning
Date: 23 February, 2011
Website: www.myspace.com/srodek