GrizzlyButts, March 3rd, 2018 
Written based on this version: 2018, CD, Trismus Records (CD-R, Limited edition)

Ukranian one-man atmospheric black metal project Svrm is fronted by Serhiy Tkachenko who is best known for his previous work in punk infused pagan black metal band Заводь (Creek, or small river) and earlier work in recently revived black/crust band Life is Hell. His work in Svrm has coincided with the relative silence of Заводь since their 2013 album ‘Крізь коло і п’ять кутів’. Though his work in Заводь closer resembles a punkish Drudkh in some respects, Svrm is a mix of Paysage D’Hiver like noisome frigidity and the more melodically inclined side of blackgaze. This most recent compilation collects two demos and three EPs worth of material recorded from 2015 up to and not including the 2017 EP ‘Останнє Сонце’.

If you’ve a strong interest in atmospheric black metal with a bleak and raw sound the earliest demos from Svrm are reasonably professional in their arrangement and feature evocative guitar lines that are nearly fully formed on the first demo ‘7’ from 2015 and third demo ‘При смерти’ from 2016. The recording quality is clear enough on these demos and the sound is more or less identical yet I could see him finding a balance between the pretty, soft side of atmospheric black metal and the flattened grating edge of the style. Of course you’ll notice immediately on the fifth track that this man has a supreme talent for melodic black metal guitar work. His fluid streams of tremolo might be occasionally predictable on ‘При смерти’ but they are no less listenable because of it. The ‘Зима’ EP from the same year only expands upon that sound but forms those melodic intentions into more structurally succinct songs.

From there we’re in 2017 and the final two EPs from Svrm show beginnings of a lean into an almost depressive rock influenced sound where the drumming shifts towards modern shoegaze on several tracks on ‘Голод’ and ‘За смертю’. The style is less atmospheric black metal orthodoxy and begins to resemble the shimmer of groups like Alcest with melodic leads you’d find in a band like Forgotten Tomb or Lustre. The shift away from a melodic/pagan black metal sound towards blackgaze is interesting to observe and I don’t think the end result sounds incredibly typical of the popular sub-genre. Though I’m not an atmospheric black metal aficionado I do like this compilation and to experience the progression of this independent musicians project. Well worth checking out for fans of atmospheric black metal, blackgaze, and even depressive suicidal black metal styles.

Attribution: https://grizzlybutts.com/2018/03/03/svrm-svrm-2015-20170-compilation-2018-review/

KornelKontros, February 8th, 2018 
Written based on this version: 2018, CD, Trismus Records (CD-R, Limited edition)

Serhiy Tkachenko aka C. (all instruments and vocals) is the sole musical creator and founding member of Svrm. He is also known from his major contribution to such projects as Заводь, Life Is Hell, Trumna, Necrotic Trust and Malencontre. Being originated from Kharkiv one can easily guess, which style was used herewith for the aural expression of thoughts and emotions. Ergo: black metal.

Since 2015 quite a few releases were made by C., to be exact 3 demos and 4 EPs. Thus as an extraction from the past and as a good example of how Svrm's sound and ideas changed over the past 2 years Trismus Records releases this comprehensive disc consisting of 14 songs.

To get the right description regarding the songs included I would recommend you first to imagine the coldness and grimness of the winter wind isolated into the rawest feasible form of black metal and secondly to spice that compound up with as many emotional & atmospheric elements as possible. It's melodic, it's harsh and noisy the way it was defined back in the golden times of the genre. So no fancy sounds at all, just pure darkness and visions about death and despair.

In a word, it is when the right attitude meets the right sound production. The only thing which makes this release less valuable and attractive is the non-factory pressed CD, as what we have here is a cheap burnt CD-R with a color print on it (kind of stupid tendency lately, I can't understand the point of it). But apart from that it is a good release and a good chance to get the majority of the Svrm releases on a single disc. The 4-panel digipak was minimally designed and it was also limited to 50 physical copies. So hurry to order your copy in time!

Originally published at the website of Encomium 'zine.

Detestor2796, August 24th, 2018 

Svrm is an ukraninan BM project started around 3 years ago (at the time of this writing) by Mr. Sergey Tkachenko (a.k.a. C.) with a variety of demos and several EP's already released. Despite this vast discography, my first encounter made with this band was through this very album, and I couldn't be happier about it. Being myself a Drudkh's fan (particularly the older albums), this record is like an homage to them, even to Hate Forest. Almost as if it's a mix between these bands.

Beginning with it's artwork, it pays a whole lot of tribute to Drudkh's style, which can be a great hook to most intermediate/advanced BM listeners whom are very fond of this particular style of paintings. Having this first part covered, we enter the music.

The album begins with a short but catchy acoustic intro, played entirely by guitars. The style resemblances to Drudkh's form of rhythm writing aswell. Instantly finalizing, it gives space for beginning of the second track, which begins with heavily distorted guitars and incredible blast beats. The vocals have a distinctive sound to it, being fierce, angry and are distorted in a really sensitive manner, which fit to the music accordingly. In given moments of the track, the song includes several interludes (acoustic and/or with electric guitars played with tremolo picking), which function as bridges to the forthcoming riffs.

Even though this very formula is repeated over the most of the album (except for the first and fourth track, which is more atmospheric than the rest of the release), C. manages to bring different aspects to the album which, between the songs, are nothing alike, making this release a perfect example of how one in spite of having very minimal resources (musically) can be creative (I'm looking at you, overly repetitive BM bands). And not only that, even with the minimal variation, the songs in here are beautiful, melancholic, filled with anger and sadness in it's own outstanding manner. But, because of this low amount of resources to explore, the length of an album with those qualities must be shorter than an average one, so it can be perfectly applied and doesn't end in an endless monotonous sound. Hence, the short duration of it, which while as for some people can be badly looked, for me, it was calculated to perfection.

Even though it's only almost 4 months since it's release., this album dug a special place inside my heart, and will be there 'tll the end of my days, which makes it one of my favourite albums of 2018 so far, if not the best (we'll have to wait to the end of the year to find that out)

Definitely a 100/100