Description

2020 press on smokey vinyl with insert. Limited 500 copies

M, one-woman black metal act Myrkur’s debut long-player, was one of the most hotly discussed genre recordings of 2015. More often than not, conversation and criticism centered around the abundant creative writing and music-making that delivered a necessary evolutionary step for black metal. When it was revealed that Myrkur was actually the alter ego of Danish indie pop musician Amalie Bruun (Ex Cops), however, black metal’s extremist fringes erupted in a thinly disguised misogynist attack campaign. Thankfully, Bruun — and her label — paid no mind. The Mausoleum offers radically stripped-down reworkings of seven M tracks, an inventive cover of Bathory’s Song To Hall Up High, and one new song (Den Lille Piges Dod). The title reflects the location of the recording: the historic Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in Norway, chosen for its gorgeous acoustics. Bruun sings and plays piano. She is accompanied by the Norwegian Girls Choir and Snohvitt guitarist Håvard Jorgensen (also ex-Ulver). This set peels back the dynamic and production layers to reveal the European folk aesthetics at the heart of M’s songs — and, if we’re being honest, in early black metal itself (where do you think those strange minor modal melodies and chants came from, after all). The music here is intimate and delicate, eerie, and icily beautiful, but it is also executed with authority. Mausoleum is a rare recording in that its appeal is vast. More liberal fans of classical crossover, darkwave, and even metal itself can easily — and should — embrace it. Underneath all the power of M lies a sophisticated music that reveals its lineage and sources of inspiration, and in doing so illuminates another aspect of Myrkur’s signature talent.

Track list:
1. Volvens Spadom
2. Jeg Er Guden, I Er Tjenerne
3. Skogen Skulle Do
4. Byssan Lull
5. Den Lille Piges Dod
6. Frosne Vind
7. Onde Born
8. Song To Hall Up High-Bathory cover
9. Dybt I Skoven