Svarta Havet – Månen ska lysa din väg
Release Date: 9th May 2025
Label: Prosthetic Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Post-Hardcore, Post-Metal, Black Metal, Hardcore Punk.
FFO: Oathbreaker, Deafheaven, Converge, Wiegedood, Unfurl.
Review By: Rick Farley
Formed in 2018 in Turku, Finland, Svarta Havet (translated as Black Sea) have returned with their ferocious sophomore album Månen Ska Lysa Din Väg. Released May 09, 2025, via their new label home Prosthetic Records. The album is a rally cry calling for real change in a world that seems devoid of humanity. The band born from the Finnish DIY punk and hardcore scene reflects their influences that range from far more than just those two scenes into the dark nastiness of black metal as well as the atmospheric airiness of post metal. Deeply introspective, dynamic, brutal, and organically intense, the essence of the record is a balancing act between utter chaos and imbued melancholy, one that will surely captivate the listener well beyond the end of the record.
Månen Ska Lysa Din Väg translated in English as “The moon will light your way” is an amalgamation of genres blended together as one, capturing the spirit and essence of each with unbridled energy. The textures, moods and blackened elements pair well with the post hardcore, offering up a little something for everyone to grab a hold of. The towering intensity is felt within each of the eight tracks but also the pains of despair, the bleakness, the empathy and even the belief in hope are all the result of never being harsh just for the sake of being harsh. Månen Ska Lysa Din Väg mirrors the world we live in, it’s certainly a brutal record, but it also gives off a sense of realness and compassion for humanity.
The tracks all pack a punch in their own way, Avgrunden is a slower moving build of pensive clean guitars and a straight-line of synths mixed with course blackened shrieks drifting towards a raging waterfall where once you fall through, you’re bruised and battered with a trebly blur of tremolo picked guitars and powerful drums. Full of seething, the overall tone of the track is still somehow beautiful in serenity, while Alla Sover which follows directly is a gut wrench of blast beats, hardcore grooves, nightmarish atmosphere, and carnage filled breakdowns. The almost murky Djur, rumbles on with disjointed start and stop beats, over a post, atmospheric guitar passage that gives it a sense of chaotic tension. The near swamp dragging swagger of the last minute borders on sludge metal, with heavily distorted bass rumbling with colossal hints of crusty doom. Closing track Ditt rike rounds off the tight 37-minute package with pulsating turbulence that is both nerve-shredding and tranquillizing.
Månen Ska Lysa Din Väg was recorded at Waiting Room Studio in Tampere, Finland, with producer Mikael Neves, while mixing was handled by Matthew Michel in Fairfax, Virginia before being mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland, Oregon. The final result being an absolute nightmare of rawness, clarity and a living, breathing aura. Done with minimal overdubs and studio trickery, the album comes off as a deep breath of raw, fresh air full of rage, sorrow and a vibrant light trying to shine through.
Well worth your time. You can thank me later.
(4 / 5)
