Swarn - Black Flame Order

SWARN - Black Flame Order (RAW SKULL Records / REDEFINING DARKNESS Productions CD 2019)

When I recently listened to Deceitome and their "Flux of Ruin" EP, I wrote that I didn’t expect such band to come from Estonia. But surprises continue and here's another Estonian band in Raw Skull Records / Redefining Darkness rosters! Here's Swarn! And they also play that crusty, HM-2 old school death metal!!! What the hell? I always knew few Estonian bands like Loits, Tharaphita, Must Missa, Manatark, Urt, but they're all black metal bands. It's good to know now also two quality death metal bands from there!  

"Black Flame Order" is a debut album for Swarn. You'll find here ten tracks closed in thirty minutes of music. So, songs are rather short, but Swarn doesn't waste time for intros or things like that, but kicks off right with the proper banging stuff. Probably the only moment, when things calm up a bit has a place in "Enter the Depths", which is a lovely doomy, melodic instrumental piece, which starts with these slow, mournful patterns and then follows with cleaner tone of guitar for even more sorrowful feel. Someone would say that it's just instrumental piece and thus it’s nothing special, but I really like it. The rest of the album is what you expect from the D-beat, crusty death metal. But Swarn not necessarily recycles the same old riffs from Entombed or Bloodbath. There's a bit different vibe here and there, sometimes the music can even come dangerously close to black metal - take such "The Otherness" for example, where vocals reminded me Sanrabb's from Gehenna. Give it harsher, colder production and it could end up on “WW”. 

Generally, Swarn plays simple death metal. Riffs are simple and often very crusty or doomy and because of that they're infectious and memorable. Song structures are also rather uncomplicated, so you will very quickly memorize the songs. But because "Black Flame Order" is short, it all works properly and the album gives a right kick and energy. I also like its dark, creepy atmosphere, which is always essential for this sort of music. And I can add that the production is damn good also, so "Black Flame Order" really clicked with me quickly. It gave me that positive energy for the whole day, which is cool, I think. It’s another worthy album then, which I can strongly recommend. And I can also announce the coming of their second album in the mid 2020. Get yourself ready for it. 

Standout tracks: “The Otherness”, “Mental Inbreeding”, “Enter the Depths” 

Verdict: 75/100