Vanmakt is definitely black metal; they do try to expand their sonic dimension by adding some frenetic almost industrial riffs here and there… the result is not very satisfactory or impressive but it does manage to make “Vredskapta Mörkersagor” an album worthy of your attention.

This Karlskrona outfit might sound at times influenced by the sound of Zyklon, but tuning down on the death metal influences and adding a post modern black metal look (I wanted to use that word for a long time!...post modern that is) that despite my not so very welcoming conception of “true” black metal fans and their corpse paint, I rather have them putting make up on than using Vanmakt Marylyn Manson Inspired Revlon. Still this is not about the look, but the feel, so how does this album feels? Fast, with some very interesting tempo changes and slow segments that are truly interesting and sort of refreshing… like I mention before the “industrial” sound that is splattered all over the production makes it stand above your ordinary raw black record. Vanmakt do not enter the dreadful “melodic black” category, but they do get pretty close to it, flirting with the idea but pulling back at the final moment to return to some solid and at times repetitive blast beast that remain us that they might want to write some compelling stuff but they are not yet ready to surpass the cliché drumming most black metal bands depend on to demonstrate just how “true” they are.

Vanmakt might not look like your regular god hating, church burning black metal band, but they do know what it takes to write the material, the only problem I had with the record is the constant insinuation of variety and progression that never gets deliver; it sounds like if they let go on their most interesting ideas, they might no longer be consider true black metal… well this is just their debut album and reading their web page the band has announced a new record by June this year, lets see if “Vredskapta Mörkersagor” is just the stepping stone of a great career.