MP3: Svartbag - Black Capricorn
As I'm sure regular readers are aware by now, I absolutely love music when it's soaked in ominous dread. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, Ondo and Raison d'Être are three artists that come to mind when I consider the niche and now I can add the Danes Svartbag to the list. The Rump label has put out a bunch of interesting electronica - Badun, Karsten Pflum, Snöleoparden, etc - but Svartbag's self-titled debut is by far the best of the bunch. Opener "Black Capricorn" is all slow-creeping darkness, the kind of stuff that backs you in a corner before consuming you completely. That the track is so obviously guitar-based is kinda surprising too, especially since so much of this stuff seems to traffic in sounds so heavily processed they end up resembling vague dark shapes. The low-end buzz grumbles and moans as the drums endlessly cycle and taunt, all gradually building and eventually rumbling to a stop like a freight train. Call it dark-ambient, evil shoegaze, whatever you want, it's all good, I just know I like it a lot. Be aware, it's a mighty big download (15mb), but man oh man, is it worth it.
Svartbag - Black Capricorn