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Sworn – The Alleviation

sworn – the alleviation

Info

This melodic black metal band is from Norway’s second city, Bergen, a region that brought us bands like Immortal, Burzum, Gorgoroth and the famous composer Edvard Grieg. Yet, Sworn is very much different in all matters, more alike fellow country mates Windir, who were from Sogndal which is a small city with a population under 7.000 and is best known for its Viking heritage. And that is also what Sworn is influenced by…

So, its rather safe to say that Sworn are riffing along the Viking tradition of Scandinavia’s best folkloric bands like the aforementioned Windir and Thyrfing. These young Norwegians know how to combine melodies with both speedy drums and raspy vocals to something that sounds rather sweet to the ears. Which means that if you are looking for harsh sounding underground black metal you are definitely at the wrong address with Sworn, as this is not only unoriginal but also sounds very safe, and it can not help but sounding a bit uninspired at times as well. Yet, it has to be said that this is all very well executed and they surely have an ear for melody and harmony which comes together rather nicely. The melodic and symphonic interlude also breaks the record in half and adds to the atmospheric character of the album. The band already made a huge step forward from being a one-man band in 2005 (by Christoffer Kjørsvik) to a full band, and adding Lars Jensen from Myrkgrav.

Though the band lacks a large part of having an own identity and they are sounding a bit incoherent here and there they proved with “The Alleviation” that they are a band to keep an eye on. As this is only their debut and exist for about two years now, there is simply more to be expected from these guys who clearly sound eager and enthusiastic. Anyway, fans from the aforementioned bands, melodic/symphonic black metal and Viking metal should definitely check them out.

Sworn

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