Band: HARMDAUD
Country: Sweden
Title: Skarvor
Label: Art Gates Records
Year: 2019
Style: Symphonic Atmospheric Black Death Metal

Review:
It seems impossible for a man to do all this on an album, yet this is exactly what Andreas Stenlund is doing with Harmdaud since this is a one man project. Well, almost accurate as Vintersorg produced the first Harmdaud album, as he did for this one, too, and as extra he also sung on it here and there; it's not like Vintersorg is a member of Harmdaud now, but he for sure has and has had a big impact on the whole project along the years. The production on this new album is quite muddy and stuffed, which might throw away some of the new generation of listeners used to heavily polished materials, but probably this was the idea from the start (to have this sound, not to scare away listeners). The music is a mix of Symphonic Black Metal with Atmospheric and Melodic Death Metal, with a hint of Folk Metal as well, the tracks sound heavy and majestic thanks to a good use of background keyboards, the vocals are also a mix, growling as main and screams as supporting, the drums sound is very good for what I assume are PC generated drums, and finally the guitar work is quite varied while offering some catchy riffs and leads to remember. Still what I think this album lacks is one track to stand apart from the rest, to make the project known by, a magnum opus for Harmdaud, but hopefully the next one will bring such a song, too. A good release, but I feel there much more potential in this project than what is shown here. 
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10

Contact:
facebook.com/Harmdaud
artgatesrecords.com