Svartalfheim - Well of the Highest Knowledge demo 1998

Svartalfheim - Well of the Highest Knowledge demo 1998
1) The One with the Ravens
2) Dawn of Ragnarok
3) Well of the Highest Knowledge
4) Norder reser sig igen
5) Väinämöinen and Joukahainen
6) Two Ravens

RGhost / Mega

The previous two posts were examples of what I consider good sort of viking black metal. Unfortunately as we today move to Finnish soil the case isn't so and I know this item can quite readily be found on the inter nets, but since Henu sent me a good rip of it I couldn't resist ending my little -heim trilogy here. I suppose I could've picked a different, more ascending sort of order for it, though. This is Svartalfheim, from Finland (which historically isn't known for vikings), a project of Azaghal leader Narqath and comrades Wind & Kalma who have been recently featured with other projects here. This is the first and only demo released under this name, they started as Calm, changed to this and then swapped for Hin Onde around 1999 and kept that till the end. I suppose it is safe to assume they called it quits as the last release is from 2003. Cover scans included and this tape was released on Elven Witchcraft's sub-label Engwar Creations.

The more keen readers might have already picked from the previous paragraph that I'm not very impressed with Svartalfheim. And that is indeed the case, I've never liked them. I still don't, which considering history might seem odd, seeing that I liked Perkele's "Pohjola" demo for example. It's just that this sort of viking metal got old really soon and by the time I heard this it had already done so. Having a song about Kalevala heroes Väinämöinen and Joukahainen just makes all the other viking content stick out even more. The first proper track "Dawn of Ragnarok" actually reminds me of some RAC song by its end. This might be a sales point for some people but leaves me still quite cold. The sound isn't very powerful either, vocals are poor and amateurish, musician's performance at times struggling and, and... I realise there have been demos here where the points I've mentioned have actually been positive things but I just don't like this, ok?! Awful, awful stuff. So bad it's horrible. Makes me want to listen to Siren instead. However, feel free to enjoy this and disagree with me, I won't judge you.