The last time French black/death metal merchants Svart Crown explored the terrible corners of the world with their third full-length Profane, end-time things were happening. A meteor—the most powerful to hit our blue marble in 100 years—blazed across the South Ural sky; North Korea irradiated more of its homeland with yet another underground nuclear test; Pope Benedict XVI resigned, the first to do so since 1415; the Philippines was decimated by Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest cyclone on record; and nearly 1,500 Syrians were gassed to death by their own government in Ghouta. What does all this adversity and strife have to do with Svart Crown? Very little, but the inhuman events are a reflection of humanity’s sick predisposition to revel wholeheartedly in death, destruction, and tragedy. Profane, if we’re being fair, could very well have been the soundtrack to the loathsome Year of the Snake. After all guitarist/vocalist Jean-Baptiste Le Bail labels Svart Crown’s hyper-speed tumult as, “primal, abrasive, cathartic, pessimist, and decidedly evil.”

  Now that four years—and more horrendous, almost unmentionable things—have passed, what have Nice-based Svart Crown been up to? To start with, the Frenchman lost drummer Nico Muller and guitarist Clément Flandrois to attrition. Their replacements—both from French legends Agressor—are drummer Kévin Paradis (the sticksman joined two years ago) and guitarist Kevin Verlay (who joined in 2016 as a fill-in on the Marduk tour). Rejuvenated and re-spirited, Svart Crown returns to 2017 darker and deadlier.

Recorded over a month-plus at Studio Sainte-Marthe in Paris, Abreaction was yet again helmed by long-time collaborator Francis Caste. The Parisian producer and audio engineer knew exactly what buttons to push and knobs to turn to get the most out of Svart Crown to make songs like “Upon this Infinite Madness”, “Khimba Rite”, “Transubstantiation”, and punishing closer “Nganda” exceptionally intense. The sound to Abreaction is just right, too. It’s both clear and hefty as well as noisy and cold, elements often sought out but rarely obtained in death and black metal. “The recording sessions were relaxing and studious in the same time,” recalls Le Bail. “We were conscious that we set the high bar on Profane. At the end, it was like every recording: smooth at the beginning, stressful at the end and in-between there were some very strong moments when everything started to take shape.”