Artist: Greve
Country: Sweden
Label: Purity Through Fire
Formats: CD
Year: 2025
If I’m being honest, as time has gone by my opinion on the output of Swartadauþuz has changed. While I certainly appreciate the body of work that he produced say 10 years ago and admire his dedication to the Black Metal genre, especially in recent years there have been too many different bands from his hand with too little distinction between them. And as a consequence, the overall quality has dropped, between bands but also within discographies. One good example is the original Swartadauþuz flagship Bekëth Nexëhmü, a band that started with stellar releases like ‘De Svarta Riterna’ but lately have turned to producing just lengthy and tedious atmospheric Black Metal.
A breath of fresh air with the body of work of Swartadauþuz was Greve. Rather majestic Swedish Black Metal, vastly melodic with a delicate touch of keyboards, it felt different from so many of his other bands in the sense that it was much less focused on atmosphere and more on melody. That it musically is perhaps a bit frantic, with multiple guitar riffs, keyboards, vocals and thundering drums all sharing the same space did not stand in the way of an excellent sound that in particular greatly impressed me on the sophomore record ‘Föllo af Svavel, Lifvets Dimridå’. So despite that I no longer slide to the edge of my seat when new material featuring Swartadauþuz presents itself, the surfacing of the new Greve album ‘Bleknat Bortom Evig Tid’ certainly is something I will not let pass by idly.
While three years have passed since the release of the previous album, one early conclusion to draw is that ‘Bleknat Bortom Evig Tid’ is not all that different from its predecessor. At the core is still melodic Black Metal that the Swedish scene established in the 90’s. Meandering melodies, draped upon each other, with a distant hint of cosmic keyboards and often relentless drums, the description of Sacramentum meets Obtained Enslavement still stands in my opinion. Korgath, the vocalist on ‘Föllo af Svavel, Lifvets Dimridå’ also returns, keeping essentially the core of that album intact. Yet there is a little bit more room for nuance, for some calmer, more soothing sections, even though these often these are contained under the melodic layers and whistling keys. In some songs that works rather well, in particular ‘I Dunkel Poesi’ is a strong track, rich in layers with a yearning atmosphere. Similarly, the riffs ‘En Sista Färd’ or the title track are catchy and memorable, the keyboards delicate and these songs present exactly what attracted me in Greve previously. More than on ‘Föllo af Svavel, Lifvets Dimridå’ though, the many layers can sound a little bit too frantic and clash with each other. This can perhaps be attributed to that every riff, whether from bass, guitar or keys, feels more individual and elaborate. It’s not necessarily as if it’s a battle of highflying solos, but very few of the layers are strictly supportive. With many different elements fighting for the limelight, it can at times be quite a task to keep track of everything that’s going on, and it makes it quite an intense ride to sit through for 45 minutes.
I think the good news and main conclusion is that Swartadauþuz has maintained the course of Greve, melodic in the Swedish Black Metal tradition of the 90’s, rich in melodies and atmosphere. I think the incorporation of more soothing and yearning elements is a nice touch to the formula. However personally, ‘Bleknat Bortom Evig Tid’ didn’t have quite the same impact on me as its predecessor and after playing the albums in sequence, my clear preference still goes to ‘Föllo af Svavel, Lifvets Dimridå’. But no doubt, Greve remains one of the best bands Swartadauþuz has to offer.
