Lo-fi Satanic Black Metal has never gone away. Even in the wake of the last two Burzum albums the legions of lone Black Metallers that Varg begat continue to march on undeterred. Srodek fits nicely into the ranks that are usually chock-full of USBM bedroom bands. What makes Srodek stand out though is some genuine atmosphere in his infernal arrangements.
The opening song ‘Echoing From The Past’ effectively taps into the folk atmosphere of Burzum without sounding like it was written on a dated keyboard. This is immediately followed up by the mid-tempo and even tempered ‘Bleak’ which slithers through a forest of sustain and reverb. ‘Förfall’ has a rockier vibe to it that makes good use of the melodic interplay between the dirty and acoustic guitar sounds. ‘Rotboskogens Djup’ gets a bit weirder in the intro before returning to the mid-tempo riffs and barking like a man alone in a concrete bunker. ‘Vågtjärns Svarta Vatten’ on the other hand has a much… dare I say poppier vibe to it that makes for interesting listening. While ‘Ödestad’ slows things down and feels a lot more reserved and depressive as a result. Finally the album’s outro, which is cleverly named ‘Outro’ returns to folk fiddles for a bleak yet satisfying close to the affair.
This is one of those situations where get what the artist is trying to do but am painfully aware of his limitations. He is a great guitarist and bass player, but only a competent drummer. And as a result he sticks religiously to a formula and style that gets bogged down in his own ideas. A partner in crime who is slick behind the drums and the mixing desk would do a lot for Srodek as a band.
http://www.myspace.com/srodek
