SVARTSYN “The True legend”

SVARTSYN
“The True Legend”
(Agonia Records)
Svartsyn was one of the first black metal bands that I got to review when they released “The True Legend” the first time in the late 90s. I don’t remember what I wrote back then. Don’t even remember if I liked it. Since then I’ve built a relationship with Svartsyn through several albums. And now we are back at square one with the re-release/rerecording of “The True Legend”. Honestly I have no idea why bands want to go back and mess with something already done. Why not leave it as it is and instead keep moving forward. But be it as it is there is an un-denying charm to this album, old or new recording, that somehow makes up for re-doing it. This is black metal in the more simpler school. Call it Necro if you like but there’s more of a Venom/early Bathory feel than a Dimmu Borgir if you know what I mean. More rock’n’roll than opera. This wasn’t as half-assed as I worried it would be. Anders Ekdahl