Each style has many pillars that we can constantly find the entirety of that sound resting on at all times with the many ideals, techniques, and variations that one can contain being what uphold it all through all sorts of creations. But, it’s then the artists that reinforce them to provide even more support where the sound would be struggling under its own pressure to stay afloat. When it comes to atmospheric black metal, there’s a very large number of bands that could be named that are holding the style incredibly high to keep it as interesting as it has been over the years, and I feel that Severoth is a respected but still criminally uncredited pillar. Case and point, “Vsesvit”.

While the very name of Severoth can easily invoke a great sense of reverence and wonder amongst many who wander the expanses of atmospheric black metal, I truly do feel like the name has gone ever so slightly under the radar. This isn’t a name that’s topping Bandcamp charts or people losing their minds over in Facebook groups thirty times in a few hours even though the quality that they’ve been constantly associated with has only gotten better with time, and if there is to be any single work to change that then I truly believe that “Vsesvit” is that work. Everything that has ever made the style something worth getting into is to be found within these five tracks that result in an over hour-long experience the likes of which any fan of the sound should instantly lose themselves in, and something that can effortlessly give newcomers a proper taste of what is possible. The atmospheres throughout “Vsesvit” are simply tantalizing as they range from gorgeous pictures of winter woods under the starlit heavens to fantastically simplistic executions, musicianship that is par for the course when it’s coming from the likes of Severoth but its potency and skill is far above the norm, and an incredible combination of it all that quickly allows this effort to rise above the competition just by the end of the first two tracks. With all the talent and experience behind Severoth, it’s not surprising whatsoever to me that they have managed to churn out another undeniable work of the style that’s something to behold by all accounts, but just saying that is to downplay the very excellence that is constantly on display for all of “Vsesvit”.

There’s truly no better way to start off a new year of any style than to have a very reputable name deliver an effort that is no less than spectacular right from the beginning, and it would be insult to imply that Severoth has delivered anything but that exact thing. It’s right from the start that the listener should know the awesome power that they’re about to witness, and if they’re not then “Vsesvit” has five intense lessons that they won’t soon forget.

“Vsesvit” releases on January 8th via Avantgarde Music!

LISTEN to an advanced track from Bandcamp here, or stream “Vsesvit” in advanced via YouTube here.

LIKE Severoth on Facebook here.