Band:	Svart Crown
Album:	Wolves Among The Ashes
Style:	Black metal, Death metal
Release date:	February 2020

01. They Will Not Take Our Death In Vain
02. Thermageddon
03. Art Of Obedience
04. Blessed Be The Fools
05. At The Altar Of Beauty
06. Down To Nowhere
07. Exoria
08. Living With The Enemy

It's important for musicians to be able to experiment so as to flex their creative muscles in order to grow and return with stronger material in the future. Svart Crown have done exactly that.

While Wolves Among the Ashes may not be a model of consistency, its finer points encapsulate everything enjoyable about extreme metal and demonstrate just how effective a balance of sinister concepts and catchy music can be at commanding an audience's attention. Unlike its predecessor, Abreaction, the structure of each song is more direct, limiting the possibility of meandering by a substantial amount, making for an overall more focused and accessible approach to their brand of brutality. Taking an undoubted interest in the words of fellow countrymen Deathspell Omega, with their technically driven riffs and waves of purposeful dissonance, Svart Crown attempt (quite successfully) to build upon that foundation using a thick layer of death metal mortar to bind everything together, sustained by the rigid pillars of infectious groove across the album's 40 minute length.

Ostensible moments of introspection appear scattered throughout, and their poignancy is questionable in terms of delivery. The Death Tape introduction comes across rather heavy-handed, but at least feels refreshing as an allusion as opposed to yet another "mad as hell" Network sample. Also, the awkwardly placed ballad-like "Down to Nowhere" features some uncomfortable clean vocal chanting reminiscent of a local underground goth rock bar band. Thankfully the backing musical crescendo eases some of the discomfort with its distracting melody, but it's still a noticeable standout on the album in the worst, most ill-fitting way. These are the aspects of Svart Crown that are most divisive, and also seemingly the ones that the band members have no desire to move away from, as they become staple elements in their sound.

Obviously, this is a strong album when considering its total package. The performances of each member and general songwriting are both top-notch, the closing track leaves you with a sense of finality, it's polished and discernible in a way that doesn't sound too mechanical, and there's a strong message behind the music. The character flaws are definitely impactful on the full listening process, but if you aren't too much of a musical purist to hit the skip button, these immediately become a non-issue. For all you vinyl collectors... well you'll just have to grin and bear it like reviewers do.