Review by Jeger on July 15, 2024.

Just a real happy bunch here lately… As of late, I’ve been delving deep into the realms of philosophy and of misanthropy through the most precious art of black metal. And as I’ve staggered my way through these bewildering corridors of the psyche, so enraptured by the byproduct of total societal collapse and soul ablaze with the lust of watching it all burn, aroused by the fires of rapture, I become ever more comfortable within the bleakness of existence, so long as it’s incentivized by seeing you suffer as much as I have… Be not sad about our lowly demise but grateful that the charade is over; the fallacy that our existence actually held some kind of meaning. And so deeper still we venture now through nightmarish subconscious mires into the frigid heft of chasmic dread where Switzerland’s ColdCell haunt. On July 29, 2024 ColdCell will release their highly-anticipated fifth LP, Age Of Unreason, via the illustrious AOP Records.

There’s a world of artful black metal outside the realm of hatred and diabolism. And it’s prestigious labels such as AOP, Eisenwald and Naturmacht, whose scrutinizing standards set a practically unreachable bar, whom we have to thank for bands like ColdCell and albums like Age Of Unreason that dredge up Mgła level disdain, all the while as they convey black metal of the cathartic consort. Expect high levels of intensity as emotions are purged to the frantic suspense of every twisted passage. 'Dead To The World' and 'Solidarity Or Solitude' - the former a dreamlike astral projective experience where the seconds tortuously tick to the repetition of overwhelmingly foreboding arrangements. The latter, like a page taken out of Paradise Lost’s playbook, drags along to doom-worthy riffs before lending back to more of those ghostly atmospheric elements that breeze their way through pillaring rhythms and abstract guitar parts; maniacal vocal tantrums tearing vulgarly through an otherwise haunting experience.

Meaningless feat. Ines Brodbeck - a beatnik sort of poetry to this one - entranced and completely lost within its siren-esque allure, aroused into a state of blessed gnosis by her almost witch-like reveling in the spirit of this very unique album cut. A distinct air of class to every element of this record; the kind of elite level prowess that gives contemporary black metal a name worth stating a thousand times as the most meaningful genre of music the world of extreme metal has to offer. And the energy! Like the psychological residue of a million bitter memories creeping through every orifice of your being as the riffs pulsate and despairing vocalizations tear asunder any hope for a better life…

Not much in the way of reciprocal arrangements: choruses, hooks or other catchy parts, more like a strapped in for the duration ride upon bravely traversed pathways through spheres of dread and futility. Yearning for something, anything fruitful only to be disappointed by life’s funny little way of stripping you of everything but an animalistic urge to continue existing for reasons unknown. All of this lain out before us for the taking in. The better portion of an hour spent challenging your natural inclination to want to avoid music like this… Who wants to suffer for the sake of appreciating art? Any black metal person who understands the contrast between what’s miserable, what’s joyful and the truth that one cannot be experienced without the other. Age Of Unreason - a testament to BM’s capacity for encapsulating human emotion like no other genre of music.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 10, 2021.

Of course you know that Svartsyn is one of these countless solo projects. The “band” is run by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ornias. His only comrade-in-arms during the recording session of Black Testament was a drummer with the great pseudonym Hammerman. Frankly speaking, this name for a drummer borders on parody, but the crucial fact is that “Hammerman” delivers a proper double bass hailstorm and, more generally speaking, a dynamic performance. Yet it goes without saying that the quality of the album depends on the performance of Ornias.

His song-writing talent has always been more than sufficient. He does not belong to the best composers in terms of extreme metal, but he is competent enough to pen a genre jewel from time to time. His general approach results in songs that create a dark labyrinth of sinister emotions. Although he does not pray to the God of revolutionary progress, he writes impenetrable, deafening tunes with a surprising number of tempo shifts and breaks. Every now and then, the result is simply going nowhere or it falls victim to a blurred sound, but here we have at least one genre gem. 'Demoness With Seven Heads' combines the trademarks of Svartsyn in a glorious way: total darkness embraces weird melody lines, vehement drums celebrate tempo changes and increase the intensity of a song which is crowned by the demonic vocal performance. Each and every part blends seamlessly with the next one and thus a profound heaviness invites the listener to get lost in this labyrinth. Many thanks, I gladly accept the invitation.

No doubt, the aforementioned song in the centre of the album marks its climax. The other pieces present a partly thick, partly smoothly flowing approach. The guitars present line after line, the production fosters the density and compactness of the songs. Everything is in a good balance with the exception of the seemingly non-existent bass guitar. Yet this minor flaw can remain unrecognised. Unfortunately, there is another thing which slightly hurts the overall picture. While 'Demoness With Seven Heads' stands at the top of the ranking, a few of the other tracks fail to develop an own identity. 'Rising Beast' houses some characteristic lines and the same applies for 'Revelation In The Waters', 'Eyes Of The Earth' and the closer. The further two pieces – the pretty pointless intro can be neglected - have to struggle in order to leave a lasting impression. The density and homogeneity of the material is both curse and blessing in this context. It would not be fair to speak of a confusing approach during the less strong yet still passionately performed songs, but it is also true that they pass by without giving an overdose of outstanding impulses.

However, Black Testament avoids major deficiencies and it does not betray the spirit of the subgenre in any way. Quite the contrary, the full-length leads the audience very close to the essence of black metal and the authenticity of the music as well as the integrity of the artist behind this long-standing project cannot be doubted. The work from the year 2013 belongs to the best outputs in his discography and if you do not have an one-man-project allergy, the album can enrich your metallic existence.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 10, 2021.

Of course you know that Svartsyn is one of these countless solo projects. The “band” is run by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ornias. His only comrade-in-arms during the recording session of Black Testament was a drummer with the great pseudonym Hammerman. Frankly speaking, this name for a drummer borders on parody, but the crucial fact is that “Hammerman” delivers a proper double bass hailstorm and, more generally speaking, a dynamic performance. Yet it goes without saying that the quality of the album depends on the performance of Ornias.

His song-writing talent has always been more than sufficient. He does not belong to the best composers in terms of extreme metal, but he is competent enough to pen a genre jewel from time to time. His general approach results in songs that create a dark labyrinth of sinister emotions. Although he does not pray to the God of revolutionary progress, he writes impenetrable, deafening tunes with a surprising number of tempo shifts and breaks. Every now and then, the result is simply going nowhere or it falls victim to a blurred sound, but here we have at least one genre gem. 'Demoness With Seven Heads' combines the trademarks of Svartsyn in a glorious way: total darkness embraces weird melody lines, vehement drums celebrate tempo changes and increase the intensity of a song which is crowned by the demonic vocal performance. Each and every part blends seamlessly with the next one and thus a profound heaviness invites the listener to get lost in this labyrinth. Many thanks, I gladly accept the invitation.

No doubt, the aforementioned song in the centre of the album marks its climax. The other pieces present a partly thick, partly smoothly flowing approach. The guitars present line after line, the production fosters the density and compactness of the songs. Everything is in a good balance with the exception of the seemingly non-existent bass guitar. Yet this minor flaw can remain unrecognised. Unfortunately, there is another thing which slightly hurts the overall picture. While 'Demoness With Seven Heads' stands at the top of the ranking, a few of the other tracks fail to develop an own identity. 'Rising Beast' houses some characteristic lines and the same applies for 'Revelation In The Waters', 'Eyes Of The Earth' and the closer. The further two pieces – the pretty pointless intro can be neglected - have to struggle in order to leave a lasting impression. The density and homogeneity of the material is both curse and blessing in this context. It would not be fair to speak of a confusing approach during the less strong yet still passionately performed songs, but it is also true that they pass by without giving an overdose of outstanding impulses.

However, Black Testament avoids major deficiencies and it does not betray the spirit of the subgenre in any way. Quite the contrary, the full-length leads the audience very close to the essence of black metal and the authenticity of the music as well as the integrity of the artist behind this long-standing project cannot be doubted. The work from the year 2013 belongs to the best outputs in his discography and if you do not have an one-man-project allergy, the album can enrich your metallic existence.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10