Highlights

- The album was for a long time ranked as #1 album of 2023 over at Metalstorm.net, and it is still in the top 5. The album also ranked #2 best Melodic Black Metal album of 2023 at Metalstorm Awards.

- Youtube's biggest black metal channel, Black Metal Promotion, uploaded our album as a live premiere, and it was THE MOST popular album upload on their channel in 2023, reaching a higher view count than great releases from strong bands like Blackbraid, Tsjuder, Thulcandra, Afsky, Nattverd, and more.

- Our monthly listeners on Spotify grew significantly after this album’s release. Thanks to the strong support from listeners, with many saving tracks, adding them to playlists, and returning to stream them, the algorithm has continued to work in our favor, and we’ve been fortunate to see steady growth even two years later.

- At Bandcamp the album was on the bestseller list of Norwegian releases for a long time after it's release

- We released the album digitally, but after huge demand for physical release, 300 CDs were first pressed which sold out almost instantly. Thereafter a vinyl release through The Circle of 500 copies. One black and one marbled red version. The latter sold out in the preorder phase.

Reviews

9/10  - Hellfire-Magazin
"Here many influences from the genre have been combined into a creative and highly recommended masterpiece... an album with seven favorite tracks for me and a considerable addiction factor"
- Susanne Kneisel

90/100 - ZwareMetalen.com
"Sworn is simply a rock solid melodic black metal band from Norway, A Journey Told Through Fire should not be missing in any (melodic) black metal collection!"
- Joris Meeuwissen

9/10  - Broken Tomb Magazine
"Everything on this album is measured to the millimeter and at no time does the compositional level drop, which is why Sworn have created a work that keeps our attention for almost an hour. Do you remember the “Armada” from Keep of Kalessin? In my opinion it maintains a very similar essence..."
- Ramon

8.5/10 - Metalstorm.net
"Here's some of the highest standard and most exhilarating meloblack you'll hear this year... With some great musicianship and excellent songwriting, Sworn have really pulled it out of the bag, and will hopefully set a benchmark for a new wave of melodic black metal for the future to come"
- AndyMetalFreak

8.5/10 - Powermetal.de
"The only criticism I finally realize is that SWORN on "A Journey Told Through Fire" doesn't really reinvent the black metal wheel. But if we’re being honest, hardly any band does and as long as the typical genre trademarks are slapped around my ears as convincingly, catchy and without an apparent offer at a certain idol as on this disc, it would be a crime to hang on to such a little thing. Accordingly, there is also a whopping 8.5 points and a thick entry on my target list."
- Tobias Dahs

8.5/10 - Metalwar.gr
"..one of the best albums of the genre so far this year"

95/100 - Musika.be
The foursome knows how to convince us track after track – especially the extremely clever, inventive and melodic guitar work makes us melt – and we can therefore wholeheartedly recommend this 'A Journey Told Through' Fire' to every self-respecting lover of melodic music. black metal.

8.5/10 - Pasifagresif.com
"There are nearly 300 albums shared since the first day of 2023 on the Black Metal Promotion channel, which is the largest black metal channel on YouTube and has 355,000 followers as of now, and only 6-7 of them have been listened to over 50,000. Among these, the album that is at the top is SWORN, which reached 90,000 streams, outperforming groups such as TSJUDER, AFSKY, KAMPFAR, THULCANDRA. Moreover, they have achieved this in just 40 days, not since the beginning of the year. Well, that must be telling something."

Metallurgi.com
"Sworn has produced an outstanding piece of epic, melodic black metal on 'A Journey Told through Fire', a record that stands as another impressive monument to the rich traditions of the Westland black metal scene."

Wonderbox Metal
"To say the music is well-written is an understatement. Within the first couple of minutes it is amply apparent that Sworn have a talent for the style, and upon journeying through the entire album this is frequently reinforced. A Journey Told Through Fire is best experienced over time via multiple visits though, as each spin reveals a new facet of the band’s sound... A Journey Told Through Fire is a hideously accomplished work. It’s a creatively rich seam of black metal that Sworn are mining, and they have clearly struck pay dirt. Make sure that you don’t miss out on one of the strongest black metal albums to see the light of day in 2023 so far."