The new album
Bastards and Conquerors from Norway’s Sworn typifies a conservative brand of black metal that does not in the slightest deviate from the paradigm of the genre, but it is nevertheless well-executed black metal, as all of the conventional elements of the genre are present and are well-served by the varnished production. The album, and indeed the band itself, is recommended for fanatics of the genre—which, of course, I consider myself to be—but it will not be, you should know, a gateway album to be employed to convert anyone to the dark side if they have been heretofore immune to the genre.
The new album Bastards and Conquerors from Norway’s Sworn typifies a conservative brand of black metal that does not in the slightest deviate from the paradigm of the genre, but it is nevertheless well-executed black metal, as all of the conventional elements of the genre are present and are well-served by the varnished production. The album, and indeed the band itself, is recommended for fanatics of the genre—which, of course, I consider myself to be—but it will not be, you should know, a gateway album to be employed to convert anyone to the dark side if they have been heretofore immune to the genre.