Mara are a Swedish black metal band and this is their fifth album.
I thoroughly enjoyed 2019’s RÖK and 2022’s Loka Maer, so was pleased to see Sword of Vengeance appear on the horizon, threatening like a blackened storm. Yep, it’s time for 35 minutes of darkness come to swallow the world.
Sword of Vengeance offers a no-frills feast of second wave black metal for fans of the style to gorge upon. It’s old-school, with a pagan influence, and it rages and tears so hard that you start to wonder if reality itself is going to rip itself asunder.
The songs are ferocious and delivered with zealous intensity. They are raw and brutal, unleashed with an icy fury that’s almost tangible. The vocals are higher in the mix, which is not an approach I typically favour, but it helps that the vocalist puts his all into his performance.
There is melodic depth to be had across the songs, as Mara know how to write compelling, well-rounded slices of black metal, rather than simply always going for the throat. Many of the melodies deployed are weapons-grade, searing streaks of tension and venomous arcs of lethal colour, spilling from the malevolent distortion like spectral lacerations. Mara do this sort of thing very well; the melody is a particular strength of Sword of Vengeance.
The different tracks focus on Mara’s various assets in different ways. Sometimes there’s an increase in visceral aggression, sometimes the atmospheric parts rise ascendant, sometimes the melodies attack viciously. Whatever any song is doing at any given time, Mara provide the listener with enough frosted music to become absorbed by.
Sword of Vengeance is another raw assault of melody, atmosphere, and aggression from Mara. The recording and the vocals in particular make it feel like you’re listening to a live recording, and the more you listen to it, the more violently charismatic it becomes.
Highly recommended for fans of old-school black metal.
Wonderbox Metal 