Syv

There is absolutely no denying that Halden native Thomas Eriksen is a black metal genius. For 20 years now, he has been the driving force of one of the most consistently great black metal projects out there, Mork. This year, Eriksen decided to not only work on Mork’s 7th album, “Syv”, but also decided to start a new project, Udåd, which focuses on a more raw and aggressive black metal sound, allowing for more room for experimentation with his main project’s new release, be it intentional or not. In terms of “keeping the flame of Norwegian black metal alive” while still presenting an impressively polished and modern final product, it doesn’t really get better than Mork.

As far as one man projects go, black metal is probably the genre of metal where they are most common, that is a fact. The projects who are able to create a truly full sound, which really makes you doubt if it is really only one person, are really, really few and far between. Right from the get-go, that same doubt is planted in the mind of listeners with the broad soundscapes and deep atmosphere of the opener, “I Tåkens Virvel”, which is dark, fast and aggressive without necessarily being harsh for the sake of it, as many other bands of the style. In terms of riffs, then return of the formula Eriksen has perfected so well; a great amount of dissonance, with a tone that isn’t overbearingly cold, making the guitar lines feel oddly comfortable - like being embraced by the void. In the vocal department, Eriksen’s signature style returns, strong growls that still allow for plenty of space for the vocal melodies to shine and screams from the bottom of his soul.

In terms of the other components of the sound, it is as deep and full as ever, with each of the instruments fitting into each other like a glove. The mix is also to the standard we have come to expect with Mork over the years; every instrument is crystal clear, but still maintains some of the charm the horribly produced Darkthrone albums had, for example. Even with the addition of orchestral elements more towards the back half of the album, the mixing is still rock solid, with the violins and whatnot only adding more and more layers of depth into the already incredible sound of albums like last year’s “Dypet”. Bass follows the style standard of barely being audible, but it’s there, for sure. “Tidens Tann”, for one, has a very nice bassline, with its tone being surprisingly clean and not the bulldozingly distorted mess first wave bands like Venom brought to the table. Rock solid sound, really, as always.

“Til Syvende Og Sist” is one of those songs so good, so complex, so incredibly layered books could be written about it, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll limit myself to only a paragraph. It starts with a riff that would fit pretty well into any 80s hard rock album and a minimalistic, almost tribal-like groove that together, gives everything this strangely motivating feeling, which is only further accentuated when the guitars become more “conventionally black metal” and a minimalistic, but effective string section cascades into the mix. Although it is an instrumental track, during its 5 and a half minute runtime, there is not a single dull moment, with something different always happening, keeping the song fresh at all times. The orchestral section at around the 3:30 minute mark is also some of the genuinely most beautiful and most emotional parts of a black metal song I have heard in a while, with that solo needing no words to carry heaps of emotion. In general, it gets every newer idea that Eriksen has implanted into “Syv” and concentrates it into a brutal, but stunning track. “Omme”, the closer, is also just as majestic, but goes in a completely different - and yet again, unexpected - direction, being a clean, almost folk-like track, anchored mostly on vocals and acoustic guitar, closing off this amazing LP perfectly, suggesting the calm before an upcoming storm.

All in all, “Syv” is yet another example of why Mork is one of the greatest black metal bands of this generation. Moreover, it shows that Eriksen is also willing to experiment more and more with the project’s sound, maybe due to the dawn of his side project. This new album begs the question, could Mork be going into a different direction? Ultimately, only time will tell. Branching off or continuing to go down the path the other records put him on, one thing is for certain, whatever Mork comes out with will be of amazing quality. The future for Thomas Eriksen is as always. bright, and us fans eagerly await his next moves!


Written for MetalRules.