Svartthron is a one-man black-metal band from Lithuania. Tomhet, the brain behind this project, has been active in the underground black-metal scene since 2005. Being from Lithuania it seems kind of strange naming your band after a Norwegian word, which means “Black Throne”. Why not naming your band in the Lithuanian language itself? In 2007 he actually released 3 full length albums. This is his fourth full length album called Bearer Of The Crimson Flame.

Lithuania is not the first country that comes in mind to be known for its metal-scene. The more I was surprised by this really good recorded piece of black art. The recordings are really well done, the sound is clear and well produced, but at the same time it has the typical dark, underground black-metal atmosphere in it. For this recording, Tomhet got the help of Mordance, an Australian black-metal vocalist from the band Paroxysmal Descent. Despite the huge distance between them, the songs turned out really good. I think it’s even due to the vocals of Mordance, that this record became really interesting! He sounds like a haunted Attila Csihar (which is almost impossible, because Attila himself is already one of the most intense, haunted black-metal vocalists out there), combined with the vocalist of Amorphis in their Tales From The Thousand Lakes era.

This album is a conceptual one man’s story, about his struggle with life. Lyrically the focus is on the negative side of mankind. Just about the emotional battles humans can go through in life. The musical result is intense, powerful and at the same time it creates a misanthropic, desolated atmosphere. The album starts off with an atmospheric guitar and keyboard intro, which takes you back to the misty fields and mountains of countries like Lithuania. I’m really impressed by the musical skills of the musician Tomhet. This guy is a really crafted musician, which handles his instruments very well. Musically you can hear the influences and inspiration of bands like Xasthur and Velvet Cacoon. Other bands that come in mind are the (old) My Dying Bride, especially in the doom parts and a band like Lurker of Chalice.

I didn’t know what to expect, but Svartthron took me by surprise. If you like well played atmospheric, ambient black-metal like Velvet Cacoon and Xasthur, but with a bit more up-tempo approach to it, you should definitely check out this guy!