REVIEWED: Sworn – 'Null Crowned the Infinite'
Whether it’s deranged, megalomaniac world leaders wilfully shunting us ever closer to a violent nuclear apocalypse or the rapidly accelerating erosion of the world’s natural resources at the hands – or rather carbon-laden feet – of a species visionary comedian Bill Hicks once rather aptly referred to as “a virus with shoes”, the prospect of our own fairly inevitable self-annihilation is one precious few of us are overly enamoured with.
And yet, across its blackly absorbing wealth of tremolo-stricken symmetries, gossamer-fine atmospheric nuances and propulsive episodes of synapse-scorching aggression, black metal’s capacity for translating the most desolate of existential horrors into the stuff of hauntingly transcendental magic is nothing short of limitless. And from the jagged, icily entwining strains of tremolo that plunge the listener headlong into the deathly, meditative netherworlds of Mgła’s iconic ‘Exercises in Futility’ to the staggering expanses of sleekly ornate fretwork that made Watain’s ‘Lawless Darkness’ an instantaneous cult classic, the past couple of decades have witnessed some truly remarkable offerings.
As a band that embody all of the aforementioned quintessentially blackened trappings, it would be easy to compartmentalise otherworldly Norwegian ensemble Sworn as the latest in a long line of delectably frostbitten genre talent. Yet for all its unmistakably blackened hallmarks and related reference points, epic fifth album ‘Null Crowned the Infinite’ is a record that occupies a sonic space, nay, universe of its own unfathomably expansive design - one simultaneously anchored in beguiling melodic symmetry, calculating in structure yet possessed of a presence immense enough to shatter whole galaxies.
Grappling with such confoundingly infinite concepts as the origins of the cosmos, the genre-twisting array of icily harrowing, corrosive and sumptuously melodic energies contained herein showcases a level of compositional mastery well matched with its conceptually grandiose scale. Better still, the Scandinavians’ elevated command of sonic layering, suspenseful pacing and gargantuan, Ridley Scott-esque orchestral trappings paints a wondrously immersive sense of story, commencing with epic, 12-minute slab ‘The Starless Origin’.
Encompassing an exceptionally varied yet seamlessly cohesive array of sonic energies, tones and trappings, this riveting slab of a single could, in isolation, quite easily generate a few hundred words of dedicated critiquing - such is the sheer enormity of assorted movements, spinal cord-snapping twists and elegantly orchestrated turns observed here. With its hauntingly intangible flurries of airily glimmering synths unfurling and coalescing like a curious configuration of cosmic vapours, there emerges, even at this embryonic juncture of the song, a clear and instantly identifiable melodic backbone. Amassing increasing substance and momentum via its myriad stylistic shifts across Mgła-esque stints of wintry, bone-scrapingly abrasive riffing, fluidly unfurling guitar leads and a bone-shatteringly brutal final flourish that hurls the listener headlong into oblivion, theirs is a lacerating yet impeccably cohesive kind of magic.
From the knife-edged profusion of frost-stricken notes that implode out of alternately ripping and sumptuously enveloping title track ‘Null Crowned…’ to the innumerable, elegantly gleaming melody lines that spill forth from sweepingly panoramic standout ‘A Cosmic Storm’, Sworn’s compositional prowess and meticulous production make for face-meltingly intense and absorbing listening. And with each uniquely characterful track comprising a pivotal piece in a greater, seamlessly cohesive sonic odyssey, this is quite possibly the most riveting black metal record you’ll hear all year.
10/10
'Null Crowned the Infinite' is out now via Bandcamp.
Click HERE to order your copy.
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