Black Metal and Punk, especially Crust Punk, are two styles that complement each other very well. Both styles came out of a DIY aesthetic and ideal, and the result, in both cases, is great music. So combining these two styles together is naturally going to produce some really good music. Finland's SÅGVERK are one band that blends Black Metal and Crust Punk together to create something really cool and interesting. For evidence of this, look no further than their debut album, "Sahataan Na Kaikki".

The opening track, "Naru", is a fairly standard Crust Punk song, with a very slight Black Metal tinge to it. Like all great Crust Punk, it's fast, ferocious and it is over almost as fast as it's begun. It's a really good opening offering which sets you up for the rest of the record. "Suo", but contract, has a lot more Black Metal elements in it, especially in the vocals. The guitar lines are much more dark and brooding, It balances the two styles really well, rather than being a weird mash up of both styles. It has the aggression of Punk and the morbid musical side of Black Metal. "Likapykki", a powerful Punk onslaught, works really well, and has some sharp riffs, a thick bass line and bitter, rasping vocals that work really well with the music.

"Haudat" is a dissonant piece of Punk-infused Black Metal, driven by speed and ferocious guitar and vocal performances. The fifth track on here, "Pullo", is one of the shortest tracks on the album, but manages to get a lot of cool ideas in within that time. It's another song that's more or less straight forward Crust Punk with a noticeable Black Metal edge that makes it really interesting. The penultimate track, "Tiet", is a relatively mid-tempo song built around solid guitar lines and howling vocals that make the song sound even more harsh than it does to begin with. It's a really good climactic point for this record, and leads into the final track, "Rotat", very well. This song is one of the fastest, and easily the most aggressive on this record. It's full on, in your face and unrelentingly vicious. At points it's reminiscent of bands like TAAKE, and it ends up being not only the best track to close on, but also the best over all.

As far as debut records go, this is a really good introduction to the band's music. The balance between the Punk and Black Metal elements in the band's sound can, at times, lean more towards a single style, but the music on offer is good enough to render this criticism pointless. Hopefully this will be the first of many great albums from this band.