Metalmessage.de (8/10 pointsRiv, Hugg och Bit is the title of the brand new output of these fantastic Brutal Folk Metal Band from St. Petersburg! Let´s make something clear: These Russian Metalheads are not a copy of Finntroll, for example! Why not? Cause Svartby does not sing about Trolls and so the lyrics does not deal with Troll-Stories - No! They tell about their own magic world, about the Svartby village deep in the woods, far away from the humans world – a story about the wild and brutal Dwarfs :) This Black Village has been introduced in the first EP with the title TOMTE where they met a house spirit, tired of humans. (This is EP you can download for free from the bands website!). Now it’s time to devote a whole album to them – next chapter in
A special role in Svartby's music was always given to keyboards - it's them who add this "folkish" scent. I didn't expect anything but perfect sound from keyboards - considering the leading sound of keyboardist Rene in Equilibrium band, so he understands the thing. And the whole album sound is very nice: fat, clanging bass, powerful guitars, rumbling drums. Though, of course it is due not only
to German sound engineers but also our guys: compared to the previous album, the guys acquired mastery. Actually the difference between their debut and this release is colossal. Debut is debut, with all its drawbacks. The second cd is much more mature, the music is more complex, the voice of Andrew (Torhall) is rougher and harder. "Kom I Min Kittel" helped to win recognition, but it also played a bad joke: Svartby became accepted as A Finntroll clone. "Riv, Hug Och Bit" kept the main idea - songs about magical evil creatures in Swedish - but it's not associated with the famous Finns any more. The band has its face now, their folk-metal became enough eclectic. It is based not on humppa rhythms, but bent to extreme genres: thrash and death metal, at the same time having symphonic sound (thanks to Giftsvamp who drenched all the songs with his keyboards). The guys call their style "svartcore"
- and it is so, because you can't differ this or that style in this mix. For the passing 1,5 years the band grew in all directions: in composing, in playing and just became mature, if I'm allowed to say that. I think Trollzorn won't regret about their Russian pet. Well at least listeners who received "Riv, Hugg Och Bit" - won't!"
thydoom.com 9/10
nocturnalhall 8/10
metalized 7/10
metal1.info 8/10
metaldistrict 8/10
metalroxx 9/10
