Myrk
Icons Of the Dark (1cd)
Wydane przez Ketzer RecordsRok wydania 2004Kraj IcelandNapisał Wouter6.5
Icelandic outfit Myrk has been around since 1997 but now finally releases its debut on Ketzer Records. What we have here is varied traditional black metal with occasional traditional and death metal influences. The production on this records is quite solid with a clear bass sound, powerful drums and a fat guitar sound. Vocals are manifold, ranging from death grunts to black metal rasps. Technically this album is far more advanced than your regular run-of-the mill black metal album, thus defining their place in the scene without renouncing genre rules. Although the music is performed to perfection the record doesn`t stand out due to the countless other bands in this genre. Myrk will probably only be recognized by those who take the time to wade through the infinite stream of faceless cretins. Evilly painted faces, black-and-white cover and a powerful as well as mangy production are standard within this genre. Conclusion: Myrk does a reasonable take at varied traditional black metal but falls flat on its face in conforming to genre rules. The album is extremely well thought out: serene acoustic parts, some small rocking leads and some blossoming ideas in the compositional department. Yet it all sounds too familiar to be truly groundbreaking and this is perhaps the band`s biggest flaw. In the end Myrk has produced a traditional black metal work that genre fanatics will embrace but adds nothing to the genre as a whole. Solid but predictable offering.
www.helviti.com/myrk; www.ketzer-records.de
