There’s something to be said for bands that can maintain anonymity in this age of social media. Where a lot of 90s black metal was able to retain its mystique and not reveal its members thanks to a lack of easy to find information, that’s much less common in the past two decades but I always appreciate the music being able to speak for itself. The reason I bring this up is because newcomer Syn recently released their debut Villfarelse via Terratur Possessions and beyond a mention that they’re from Norway, that’s the only information that’s available. Given the name, perhaps it’s a new incarnation of Syning, but beyond that potential speculation I’m happy to let the music do the talking and it certainly has plenty to say. Emphasizing the raw yet melodic variants of black metal that Ulver and Forgotten Woods pioneered years ago, Syn seamlessly balances raw, abrasive riffing with beautiful, almost folk-ish melodies in ways that stand out from beginning to end.
Syn may channel a lot of early Ulver and Forgotten Woods, but right from the start of opener “Daudatale” you can also hear a lot of Vemod as well. But unlike Vemod’s lengthier arrangements, Syn choses to keep things fairly brief and to the point with songs that typically span somewhere between four and six minutes. They accomplish a lot in this span of time though, often moving at brisk speeds with plenty of blasting drums while the guitars expand outwards in a mesmerizing fashion. “Daudatale” draws you in with that perfect balance of rawness and warmth, as the melodic leads are huge sounding and have jagged edges to them yet have this warm and inviting feel to them. While a lot of Villfarelse does favor blasting that hits the listener as hard as possible, each track lets its guitar work transform in different ways that makes each one have its own nuances. There are also some slower breaks that allow the darker, mysterious atmosphere to stand out a bit more, and this keeps the material from feeling repetitive. One of the most interesting tracks on the first half is “Til giljotin”, where the tempo slows down significantly and the guitar and bass work have this almost bluesy swagger to them. It’s surprisingly catchy yet still just as abrasive as you’d expect, and showcases Syn has some tricks up their sleeve even as they adhere to some of the genre templates. The second half remains oriented towards speed, but the instrumentals still manage to shake things up enough and provide leads that stand out, sometimes coming off a bit folk oriented while other times going for straight up black metal violence and darkness.
Since the band lineup is unknown, I’m not sure who’s doing vocals, but it seems likely that it’s one of the usual suspects from the Terratur Possessions roster. Whoever that may be, it works to Syn’s advantage as the vocals are one of the most abrasive aspects of the band’s music. “Daudatale” greets you with extremely distorted screams that seem to fade in and out of the layers of sound, but towards the end there is some unexpected singing that brings in a bit more of the Ulver influence. “Da kaos møtte sorg” opts to go right for the throat with an absolutely bloodcurdling scream, while “Til giljotin” has the screams twist and turn over top of the bluesy rhythms. Most of Villfarelse skews towards the harsher end of the spectrum, but there are minor variations to the screams and shrieks that keep things interesting.
Syn feels like they materialized out of thin air with a fully realized debut, and while they take cues from some classic genre bands their raw yet melodic black metal has enough of its own twists to stand out. It’s harsh and fast paced, yet there are a lot of warm and inviting tones underneath the surface that give off a more mysterious feel. The recording bears a resemblance to Vemod’s Venter på stormene as it’s quite dense and abrasive yet leaves space for some incredible peaks to emerge, and that makes this album another late standout from 2023. Villfarelse is available from Terratur Possessions.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg