Svart Solace - A Night At The Spire
Svart Solace is an artist who makes dungeon synth music in an attempt to tell a tale; as to what he’s trying to say is rather difficult to deduce. While his production skills are quite divine, his songwriting ability leaves a lot to be desired.
The Castle Gates opens the album in a majestic and tasteful fashion. The inauguration is equally regal as it is baron of fresh ideas; there is a considerable lack of progression in this track and very little to differentiate it from Svart’s earlier material. While the aesthetic succeeds in its reminiscence of early-folk lore, it fails to captivate. The track may work as background music in a soundtrack, though as a dedicated listen it’s much too monotonal. The Spire is a vast improvement that makes little use of its hefty length. The fremescent synths are royally appropriate, yet the track is extremely lacklustre and goes nowhere. The hypnotic feel of the track at times is quite admirable, though mostly boring. Svart attempts to ride the aesthetic of the song in lieu of songwriting; though this is a lazy and insulting methodology. The Room and The Darkened Tower are not a bad tracks at all; their lengths are appropriate, their mastering is on point, and their aesthetics are outlandishly alluring. The use of midi violins are quite nice in the latter, though both suffer from the same critiques as the previous songs - and all of Svart’s songs for that matter: these tracks only work as background music.
A Night at The Spire’s main problem is it is nostalgic for a time period no one is nostalgic for. Had Svart Solace used the beautiful aesthetic he has beautifully mastered to create something meaningful, in vain of Joanna Newsom’s complex songwriting on Ys or the incredibly frivolous Picaresque by the Decemberists, he’d spark much more attention. As it stands, his music can only work as background music during a game of Dungeon’s and Dragons.
Really Bad
Give him a listen here:
Svart Solace - A Night At The Spire
