Mörk Gryning – Mörk Gryning
Black Lodge Records – BLOD 034CD – 14.11.05
By Anna Novitzky
There’s something indescribably cute about black metallers. They try so hard, with their elaborate corpse paint and spikes and grimace-laden, wanting-so-much-to-be-intimidating poses; they’re like Doberman puppies that know they ought to be able to bite your leg off but can’t quite manage it. Mörk Gryning are no exception: complete with sweet little multi-vowelled stage names, they’ve been making us resist the urge to pat them on the head since 1993. Look past the bullet-studded belts, however, and you may be in for a surprise.
The self-titled Mörk Gryning is a good old fashioned vitriolic black metal album, of the kind that you don’t often get any more. Fast and angry, well produced but raw enough to make the ears prick up, it has all the screeching, choral chanting and crazy drumming you could ask for, plus just a touch of death metal brutality to keep it simmering nicely. There’s nothing terribly original on show – apart from the questionable dance remix hidden track – but it’s all nice and tight with enough variation in tempo and mood to make sure it stays interesting for the duration. And let’s face it, there’s unoriginal and there’s unoriginal – at least this harks back to the roots of the genre rather than faffing about and becoming irritatingly commercial.
So, burglars and mockers of the runny mascara look everywhere, beware – these puppies have teeth.
7/10
Mörk Gryning's Official Website
Black Lodge Records’ Official Website
Black Lodge Records – BLOD 034CD – 14.11.05
By Anna Novitzky
There’s something indescribably cute about black metallers. They try so hard, with their elaborate corpse paint and spikes and grimace-laden, wanting-so-much-to-be-intimidating poses; they’re like Doberman puppies that know they ought to be able to bite your leg off but can’t quite manage it. Mörk Gryning are no exception: complete with sweet little multi-vowelled stage names, they’ve been making us resist the urge to pat them on the head since 1993. Look past the bullet-studded belts, however, and you may be in for a surprise.
The self-titled Mörk Gryning is a good old fashioned vitriolic black metal album, of the kind that you don’t often get any more. Fast and angry, well produced but raw enough to make the ears prick up, it has all the screeching, choral chanting and crazy drumming you could ask for, plus just a touch of death metal brutality to keep it simmering nicely. There’s nothing terribly original on show – apart from the questionable dance remix hidden track – but it’s all nice and tight with enough variation in tempo and mood to make sure it stays interesting for the duration. And let’s face it, there’s unoriginal and there’s unoriginal – at least this harks back to the roots of the genre rather than faffing about and becoming irritatingly commercial.
So, burglars and mockers of the runny mascara look everywhere, beware – these puppies have teeth.
7/10
Mörk Gryning's Official Website
Black Lodge Records’ Official Website
