Skorbvstr - Sakte Fort Veldig Kraftig

Rarely does an album capture a moment in time the way in which Skorbvstr's Sakte Fort Veldig Kraftig has managed to subdue the slippery atmosphere of 2020. No evidence is needed to lend credence to the claim that this year has been bleak, raw, harsh, and solemn; a trudging timeline of frustration and maliciousness; a water torture-esque pattern of bad news; Black Metal through and through in many ways. After several listens to the album, and at least one listen driving through torrential rain, that my impression matched the purpose of the single individual behind Skorbvstr, no less a victim of this year's misery and bitterness than any other, is evidence of the the power of emotional transmission achievable through Black Metal. In an interview with OccultBlackMetalZine, "I wanted to capture all of the feelings this insane year has brought upon the world. Cold. Raw emotion. Tension. Isolation. Despair. Monotony. Darkness. Uncertainty. Sickness. The cold and raw emotion comes through pretty clearly in the overall sound."

I mentioned to the sole force behind the record the gem-like scarcity of an album achieving it's aims. "Thank you for that high praise. It’s not for me to say if I captured anything perfectly or not so I’m glad you feel that way. This has just been such a fucked up year so I felt like it wasn’t too difficult to channel those emotions. I have released a few other albums this year with various projects and it’s been quite frustrating to not be able to play many shows or get together with my bandmates very often. Watching everything get canceled and spending weekends at the house when I would’ve normally been out at gigs sometimes got the better of me as I’m sure it did a lot of people. Trying not to fall into a depression. I’ve been at this with different bands of all different genres since I was 15 years old playing my first gig in Nashville in the mid late 90s. Looking at a calendar and not knowing when I’m gonna play another show or get together with my bandmates has been incredibly frustrating and something I’m not used to. The most natural thing was to look at doing a solo project or two to help fill the void. That’s pretty much how this whole thing came about. A lot of extra time on my hands and needing to release something and stay productive. The weekend I did this was just one of those times when I was sitting there with absolutely nothing going on so I started drinking and went down the rabbit hole."

Excluding the one-minute long intro, the five tracks are exemplary of the style and the means to achieve the desired outcomes. Each track is singular in many respects with simple melodies repeating to build tension and the desire for change and something new to be introduced. Often, we are given a nuanced textural shift at points in the song, however the minimalist structure remains true. In many ways this is in line with albums like Drudkh's Forgotten Legends, before the total shift away from Saenko's Hate Forest rawness in that project. First track, "En Veldig Tung Og Melodisk Lyd Starter" is a strong representation of the album's overall aesthetic. As it shifts between two main components with long tenuous notes which seem to hold out too long. The ending of the track contains another major textural element of the album; long sharp ringing notes that cut over the atmospheric backdrop of the rhythms. This is utilized to great effect on the final track, "Mest Dystre," in which the main melodic element is carried by the echoing high guitar notes. Vocals are sickly and dripping with dusty sandy spit. Set back dynamically in the mix, there is a definitive rehearsal or demo quality to this which is appreciable. As if they are imprisoned somewhere begging to be let out. Skorbvstr would lose something with a crystal clear, typical production. 

This combination of echoing and ringing notes, raw minimalist black metal, and imprisoned vocals speak to a natural proclivity for this style, and not something which was overthought. "I went into this on a Friday evening with absolutely nothing but a vague idea of how I wanted it to sound. No riffs or parts or anything at all. Just the ideas I mentioned above combined with the desolate feelings. I got in pretty deep that night and just stayed in it as long as I could. Obviously everything morphed a little bit over the next couple of days but that’s pretty much it. Once I came up with the idea of all the arrangements being the same and everything being based around one principal note per song It felt like it sort of wrote itself." One principal note sounds minimalist to me. Carrying the minimalist theme forward further is the DIY presentation of the silver-sharpie labelled glossy digipak and plain white CDr disc with plain handwritten labelling. Skorbvstr's Sakte Fort Veldig Kraftig, though, proves that in 2020, the minimalist nature of this annum is perhaps best represented not by hope and socially-conscious messages but instead by the time-tested truisms of malcontent, struggle, and desolation underground Black Metal best conveys.