Myrkur – Folkesange
Relapse Records – 20 March 2020
At first glance, there would seem to be virtually no connection between death metal and folk music, yet on Folkesange, Myrkur has bridged that gap. Amalie Bruun has been described by the publication Metal Hammer as “scaring black metal shitless.” Yet following the birth of her child she found herself drawn to the Scandinavian music of her own Danish culture. Digging in deeply, she plays every instrument on the album and sings every vocal line, creating something that amazes at every turn.
Ella begins with a heartbeat that Amalie sings over, immediately creating a connection that centres the listener, letting them into a very different world. Layers of voices enter the mix generating a chorus that plays off the single voice from the opening. Throughout the album the emphasis is on traditional acoustic instruments, mandolas, lyres, and nyckelharpa, rooting the music to sources lying deeply in the past.
The album, however, is not a museum piece. Leaves of Yggdrasil is burnished with the cadences of medieval times, yet written by Bruun it combines both tragic love and mythology with a world of fairy tale wonderment, while human foibles are also on display. Dating back to the 1600s, Ramund is a traditional song featuring nyckelharpa, a Scandinavian stringed instrument.
Tor I Helheim opens with Amalie’s incredible voice sounding wild as the wind before settling in to reveal a poem from the Icelandic Eddas. Recounting a journey into the underworld of Hel, the sound is sparse, yet it draws the listener in.
There is a mystery to her mastery of so many traditional instruments, even more to her mastery of English on the traditional House Carpenter. Sticking mainly to acoustic guitar, this tale of a young man who finds a woman recounts how he gets her to leave her child and her husband, only to drown at sea.
Creating a chanting chorus of voices for the first third of Gudernes Vilje, when instruments and drums enter the song turns to something equally as enchanting, yet more traditional. The chorale of voices on Vinter transforms what is essentially a piece on solo piano, taking it to another appealing dimension.
While shifting directions is nothing new for musicians, the transformation from Death Metal to acoustic folk is the kind swing most would never undertake. Yet Amalie Bruun not only takes it on, she successfully bridges the gap making Folkesange by Myrkur an album you owe it to yourself to hear again and again.
https://myrkur.bandcamp.com/album/folkesange