Album Review: Mork – Det Svarte Juv (Peaceville Records)

Following on from their 2017 debut for Peaceville Records, Eremittens Dal, Mork returns with a continuation of dark, spell-binding, yet ever evolving black metal in the shape of Det Svarte Juv.

Due for release on 19th April 2019, the new opus, is cold, atmospheric, raw and haunting and marks a new highpoint for the band, taking the listener through a journey with ten unhallowed soundscapes.

Mork’s Thomas Eriksen expands more on album’s origin:

“The album has been part of a strange and dark period of my life. The darkest period of my life, infact. Since early 2017 there has been a tornado of tragedy and misery consuming my existence. Roughly throughout the whole process of making this album. ‘Det Svarte Juv’ is filled with sadness, hate, anger, pain and even strength and self-belief. There are no guests appearing on this album, it’s extracted purely from my own being and soul without any inflictions from outside expectations. It is in my opinion; Mork at it’s finest.” He continues “The music of ‘Det Svarte Juv’ is as previous Mork releases, varied. There’s classic blast-beat riffs, black’n’roll, doom and melancholic melodies. It’s pure and true in that it is made without any outside opinions or in regard to any expectations.”

It’s black metal. Cold sounding black metal with one foot firmly planted in the past. That should already create an image of just what Mork sound like but it’s unlikely to prepare you for the vitriol that comes from Det Svarte Juv.

Ten tracks of crude and coarse sounding metal with some spectacular guitar riffs and memorable vocals. It’s a shame that on certain tracks the drums sound like someone is hitting a bucket. It’s really distracting and crops up almost all the way through the album.

A real shame as Mork’s brand of ancient and mystical sounding bleakness is really good. The war beat of På Tvers Av Tidene, the delicious evilness of Den Utst¢tte and the powerhouse that is I Flammens Favn are three tracks back to back that are so good.

Mork are a phenomenal black metal band and Det Svarte Juv is a phenomenal black metal album.

That damn bucket drum though…

It can’t bury the excellence that is Siste Reis though. The guitars are on another level and we should be grateful that we’re even allowed to hear such incredible talent.

The album has its problems, mainly relating to the overall production but gawd damn, is it worth overlooking it!

Mork – Det Svarte Juv Full Track Listing:

1. M¢rkeleggelse
2. Da Himmelen Falt
3. På Tvers Av Tidene
4. Den Utst¢tte
5. I Flammens Favn
6. Skarpretterens ¥ks
7. Den Kalde Blodsvei
8. Siste Reis
9. Karantene
10. Det Svarte Juv

You can find all the album ordering links here. Find out more about Mork via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.