Denmark's black metal siren Myrkur covers Bathory

(Image credit: Trine + Kim)

Removed from any natural light, covered with frescos of writhing bodies and with a breath-misting ambient temperature that necessitates donning a blanket, the vaulting, echo-amplifying Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in Oslo has a habit of shifting the consciousness of anyone entering through its chest-heigh portal.

All of which makes it a very apt live venue for Denmark’s Myrkur aka Amalie Bruun, an artist whose pastoral take on black metal similarly combines the sacred and the profane, and whose debut album M offered an immersive sonic haven far removed from the vicious online trolling she’s had to endure ever since she first appeared on the scene.

Now her performance there last year with the Norwegian Girls Choir has been captured on the album Mausoleum, released via Relapse Records on August 19, and it’s a spine-tingling, atmospheric affair. With the contrasting tones of the debut distilled into haunting if bloodthirsty, folk-tinged reveries, Amalie’s crystal-clear vocals resonate in the room as they’re in the process of seducing time.

Thanks to Amalie and Relapse records, we have an exclusive preview in the startling form in her cover of Bathory’s epic Viking paean, Song To Hall Up High – a gauntlet thrown down to the foes, but one wrapped in finest gossamer, and more true to the transcendent, spirit-channelling nature of black metal than any number of self-appointed grimness-wardens bashing away at their keyboards.

So cast your eyes towards Valhalla, light some candles and prepare to be transported by Myrkur’s sublime take on Song To Hall Up High right here!

Mausoleum is available to pre-order now.

Make sure you follow Myrkur on Facebook.

Having freelanced regularly for the Melody Maker and Kerrang!, and edited the extreme metal monthly, Terrorizer, for seven years, Jonathan is now the overseer of all the album and live reviews in Metal Hammer. Bemoans his obsolete superpower of being invisible to Routemaster bus conductors, finds men without sideburns slightly circumspect, and thinks songs that aren’t about Satan, swords or witches are a bit silly.