Label: Relapse Records

Genre: Black Metal

Release Date EU: September 15th, 2017

Tracklist:

Mareridt
Måneblôt
The Serpent
Elleskudt
De tre piker
Funeral
Ulvinde
Glasiatrix
Kættern
Børnehjem

The ones of you who heard of Myrkur earlier know, that this release isn’t an easy-going album. Myrkur’s music is a more than challenging adventure, pushing limits of metal to its extreme. I think that the expression ‘extreme music’ never was used in a better conjunction than with what Amalie Bruun, Myrkur’s real name, delivers with her music. Simply being a one-woman project, Bruun achieved some first jaw-dropping reactions with the self-titled EP, which saw the light of day in 2014. The debut “M” was next with “Mareridt” being the sophomore release.

Myrkur newest achievement continues with disturbing sounds. Bruun, originally being from Denmark, is classically trained what’s reflected also on the new album. It’s a thin line between genius and chaos with the Danish multi-instrumentalist finding an excellent way of balance the two poles.

The title track starts the album with a yelp followed by mystic vocal. It’s an atmospheric start into the album with an evil blast that comes next. Harmonic vocals and speedy guitars create a unique sound that’s captured in ” Måneblôt” . To keep things exciting a break half-way gives you a moment of peace before evil takes over again. These two songs give a pretty good overview of what to expect from the record. The album contains a lot of darkened creativity that sometimes sounds wistful, sometimes bright and light, turning into a raging metal storm a second later.

A highlight you shouldn’t miss is “Funeral”. It’s one of the most intense songs on the album. Deep minor sounds create a gloomy and baleful atmosphere with Bruun and Chelsea Wolfe sharing vocals. This song is a trip into the spiritual abyss, captured in a three minutes sonic masterpiece.

“Mareridt” is a voluminous and complex album that serves a niche within metal. Myrkur is a counterpart to mainstream and so is the new album. If you want to challenge your musical framework and if you’re open for something that’s exciting and different, than you should give this record a chance.

Reviewer: Markus Wiedenmann