Album review: Svarta Havet – Månen ska lysa din väg

If you've been hankering for a dose of melancholic post-hardcore with old school black metal production, then prepare to hit the motherload. Svarta Havet’s second album, Månen ska lysa din väg, which translates as ‘The moon will light your way’ is intensity manifest.

From its performances, recorded to approximate the raw, caustic power of the Finns’ live show, to its anti-fascist, anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist political drive, it’s a record writhing with passion. Sometimes that manifests itself terrifyingly (the stabbing latter half of Avgrunden), while others it’s achingly beautiful (Göm Dig’s mournful piano denouement), but these compositions remain just as much a part of the message as the themes being explored.

In having these moments of light poking through the molten laments, Svarta Havet remind us that even in the direst situations – which it’s often hard to imagine we’re not in right now – hope remains a stubborn source of illumination.

How the band have used that light is also worthy of commendation, as it’s often aimed at subject matter worthy of attention it doesn’t receive enough of. Djur and Under Straden are furious favourites – a one-two assault examining the devastating impact the destruction wrought upon the planet in the name of human gain has on wildlife, a travesty so many remain willfully ignorant of. Thankfully, they’re musically compelling enough to encourage the listener to dig deeper, which can only be a positive thing.

Even without such important areas of focus, this is an effort worthy of deep attention. Its final two tracks, Misstag and Ditt Rike, are perhaps the best illustration of the breadth and contradictions of its brilliance: claustrophobic in places, airy in others – often dense, but frequently sparse. They’re elements and impulses that make Månen ska lysa din väg impossible to ignore or pull yourself away from its powerful grasp.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Oathbreaker, Blood Command, Vile Creature

Månen ska lysa din väg is out now via Prosthetic