One-man band Svartsyn fronted by the enigmatic Ornias have been creating unique works of dark art since emerging from the void in the early nineties if not always blowing listeners away with each and every release. So Vortex of the Destroyer (the project's eleventh full-length) is not only an ideal place to begin for those new, it's the most interesting and engaging release from Svartsyn in a while. As the title suggests, this is the aural equivalent of peering into a vortex of destruction, a crushing set of tracks that take the best of black metal purity and channel it into a weapon, although perhaps not best suited for newcomers to the genre who may find this all a bit too impermeable. Consisting of the base black metal building blocks of rushing, blastbeat-heavy drums (provided here by studio owner Hammerman) with Ornias' not unmelodic riff patterns and bellowed vocals, each track manages to stand out in its own way, at points sounding like a more melodic and restrained Hate Forest or a more aggressive Arckanum in terms of the sheer amount of violent emotion infused.

Opener Dwelling in the Golden Age especially builds from a rushing river of a rhythm section to a more complex construction, even the bass audible and providing a solid brick in what is being built here. The following Sutr continues in this vein, a deep and hypnotic instrumental with Ornias' furious vocal torrent atop, and although arguably too long at nearly six minutes long the music itself is enough to hold your attention spellbound as it progresses. Even more violent and deranged are the blasting Hellstorm of Fenrir and The Prometheus of Dark Dreams, slowing at points to provide unsettling bursts of doom-drenched sections, darkly atmospheric with visions of abandoned temples and haunted crypts. All are arresting, powerful pieces of black metal that will keep veterans of the genre pleasingly gripped, especially the latter as the vocals grow more bestial towards its ending.

Thereafter, the pieces following are older, originally written for the Chalice project that would become Svartsyn in 1993 and recorded and included here as a tribute to those early days. Does this make this more of a compilation than an album? Perhaps. Does it matter? Not at all; although slower and less blasting overall, the spiritual link between the pieces are clear as The Black Temple makes plain immediately with its just as chaotic and intense assault. The primitiveness of the earlier material becomes plain as listens progress, a slightly simpler riff approach here and there, a focus on speed over cohesion apparent at points, such as Seraphims Torn Apart, possibly the weakest of this older material. Beyond the Memories, the following piece, alone is better thanks to the more complex and creative percussive approach from Hammerman, as well as a more varied tempo, and Agents of Lightbearers and Utter Northern Darkness continue to enthral with their blunt force trauma to the ears, old-school and pure. Obviously, black metal has moved on since these days in a multitude of ways, yet the old magic still burns brightest in the hearts of the faithful, and those who still worship at the Swedish altar will find much to enjoy here.