ALBUM REVIEW: Where black metal and folk collide as Myrkur unveil surprises on 'M'

RELAPSE Records are one of those labels that never cease to amaze, and how they always pick a winner is anyone’s guess. Last year they surprised us all with the signing of Danish one-woman project Myrkur, a black metal project that emerged from the shadows with a self-titled EP, shrouded in a veil mystery.

Who is it they said? It wouldn’t be long before the veil would fall and Myrkur was exposed as New York based artist Amalie Bruun of indie-pop duo Ex-Cops and Danish modeling fame. Well, you can imagine what happened, the pitchforks and torches came out. But on the other side, you found more people intrigued… what can Amalie Bruun offer?

Looking back at the EP it was an ok release at best; production being a major issue, but it left promise and was endorsed by genre icons such as Kristoffer Rygg of Ulver who would later produce the debut Myrkur full length and bring her sound to the fore. Just under a year on we’re now looking at that release, entitled simply as M.

 

The multi-intrumentalist has finally revealed her vision with M, with the help of Kristoffer Rygg, (or should we say Garm)… and Mayhem’s Teloch who filled in on bass/guitar and Nidingr drummer Øyvind Myrvoll. The album was recorded at a series of studios in and around Oslo and partly in the famous mausoleum of Norwegian artist Emanuel Vigeland.

The result is an elegant mix of black metal and Nordic folk music. An album littered with disparate contrasts, from old school black metal to shoegaze, post-rock to atmospheric vocal harmonies and choirs, but it’s structured so well and its nuances make it so fluent with absolutely no discord or jarring. ‘Onde Børn’ being a classic example.

What is most impressive about this album is the journey. It can be natural instinct to revolt against black metal… the sounds… and that’s where most of us fail. Let it take you, let it overwhelm you and then, and only then, does one begin to understand.

With this album it’s much easier to fall into the album, it’s not black metal, as in the traditional sense; you travel through various soundscapes and all these disparate contrasts make a truly mesmerising experience. There’s a fire here, a fire that blazes and settles, blazes and settles.

This album won’t appease the traditional spikes and corpse paint black metal fans, or the traditional folk fans. It’s not like that. What’s here is something much more ethereal. What Amalie Bruun has created here is something truly special and Myrkur will no doubt be one of the most talked about artists for some time to come.

 

Review by Andrew Pennington

Sharpened teeth bite down for Red Fang's latest release

FROM Portland, Oregon the bastard child of an unholy foursome consisting of the Deftones, Queens of the Stone Age, Clutch and Mastodon emerged kicking and screaming into the world demanding beer and distorted guitars -and thus Red Fang were born.

This creature has now stumbled into the light of its third-album, Whales and Leeches, a furious melange of stoner, progressive, hard rockin' metal. If using those phrases together confuse you, then we suggest you just stick to the Red Fang Beer Game...

Whales and Leeches is an accomplished compendium of tunes, from the furious driving pace of No Hope, to the slowed down sludge of Failure.

Everywhere you can hear a band straining at the leash, creative juices oozing from album opener Doen to closer, the mightily impressive Every Little Twist.

Too often bands like Red Fang get categorised in the most clichéd manner, and not just with the terms randomly flung about above. But dig a little beneath the tracks and there is much more going on; veering from incessant nagging riffs such as on Voices of the Dead, to stoner anthems such as Blood Like Cream and on to the slowed down complexity of Dawn Rising (star track from our point of view).

The involvement of Mike Scheidt (Yob) and Pall Jenkins (The Black Heart Procession) has certainly helped this record, but the production and mix lend the extra touch.

At times the tracks have a hypnotic roll, with Bryan Giles, Aaron Beam, David Sullivan and John Sherman welded together in a fierce determination to nail your arse to the floor.

Low bottom end with the weaving guitar and, at times, chanted vocals produce an album of ferocity and subtlety.

With Whales and Leeches Red Fang have introduced upon an unsuspecting world one of the definitive hard driving, stoner, heavy records of perhaps the decade so far. Bold claim? Listen to them and judge for yourself.

Whales and Leeches is released in the UK on October 21st