Myrkur - Mausoleum

A lot has been written about Myrkur in the last few years and I don't feel any need to tap into that. I like her music, she's not a Nazi and that's all there is to it as far as I'm concerned. The point being - I wasn't really expecting her to put out an acoustic live album, and yet here she is, and she has pulled it off with aplomb. Mausoleum is an interesting listen, and one that captures all of the inherently bizarre magic of Myrkur's sound. She's an anomaly in the metal world - but she seems to be doing well for herself. Call it hipster black metal all you like, the songs here are all damn good.

The re-arrangements of the music into acoustic versions is extremely well done - and Myrkur, backed up by the Norwegian Girls Choir does justice to the power of the music. It fits perfectly into the growing trend of black metal musicians creating acoustic music, and acoustic musicians becoming popular in the black metal set. The music is stunning though. There is a haunting power to what Myrkur has done here - compounded by the fact that the whole thing was recorded in a tomb. As I'm sure you are starting to notice - when an eclectic and brilliant musician like Myrkur does something she never goes halfway.

I love eerie acoustic music, so I am by default a little bit biased here. Myrkur has always had a special place in my hart due to her ability to craft heart wrenching melodies that just work. She represents a way forward for black metal that builds in a concrete way on Agalloch and Ulver. Her use of choral work even sees her introducing new paradigms that make sense in the context. If you can't get behind all that she has done on Mausoleum then the next wave of black metal simply won't be for you.

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