Simon Lindgren, the artist behind Tårfödd, returns with a sixth full-length album; Mörker täcker livets ljus.

DELIVERING PROMISES

The promotional materials for this promise “supreme melancholy, bittersweet majesty, technicolour textures, and soul-draining emotion” and my word does it deliver.

The album kicks off with Skies Collapse in Ashen Grey, haunting one moment; furious the next. Lindgren roars as the album kicks into gear almost a third of the way into the track, just as the listener realises that they have drifted away on his introductory melodies. It is a powerful opener, and the album does not relent, moving in Illvilja – A Storm of Poisonous Will. This second track introduces synth to the composition, subtly at first but we will hear more synth as the album develops.

Lindgren, known for his skillful use of acoustic guitar, takes the listener into realms of atmospheric folk music, and the second half of the album uses these liberally, creating interludes of peace typical of a Tårfödd recording. The use of contrasting vocals on Livets Bistra Väg is particularly haunting, the layers of the track built around the circling core riff augment the track and indicate the direction of the latter stages of the album.

CHANGE OF PACE

Bones Beneath the Blame brings us this change of pace, starting off with melodic acoustic guitars before Lindgren smashes the mood with the searing vocals we have all come to expect in the genre and the track gradually yields to the DSBM sensibilities, retaining the acoustic riff but building and building into a truly outstanding track. An acoustic solo follows on Nothing Announces Change, a brief window of light melody before the dark melodies reclaim their place at the centre of the composition. The jarring abrupt ending to the track provides a moment of reflection before Ära i Död smashes the silence. This track makes good use of synth throughout, reminding this listener of some of the foundational black metal of the early 1990s.

Concluding with back-to-back nine minute compositions in the form of Mörker täcker livets ljus, a track that begins with strong post-rock vibes before Lindgren’s vocals remind us that this is indeed still very much a DSBM album. Guest vocals from Johanna Furberg, a regular collaborator on Tårfödd tracks, add further to the track, contrasting sharply with Lindgren’s ferocity.

TÅRFÖDD

Closer Farväl till allt, also clocking in at nine minutes, draws the album to its conclusion, drawing on all the preceding tracks and bringing together melodic acoustics, speedy black metal riffs, pounding drums and generally all we have come to expect from bands within the genre. Tårfödd offers the listener a full hour of outstanding depressive suicidal black metal, with sweeping melodies and destructive riffs evident throughout.

Mörker täcker livets ljus releases through Purity Through Fire on 28 March 2026. Why not, as Tårfödd invites us all to, “ruin your day over and over again”?

Tårfödd: Bandcamp

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