Myrkvid is getting a makeover.
After a few years of silence, the band led by Myrk (guitar/vocals, Black Owl Majesty), joined by Legolas Landvoettir (guitar), D.L.B. (bass), and Berghart (drums), stays with Immortal Frost Productions for the release of their third album, Nihilist.
The album begins with the introductive sample soberly named Nihilist, which plunges us directly into the heart of anguish, letting the rhythm race until it leads into Pear of Anguish, where raw riffs strike with a brutal Old School touch. The tortured vocals accompany this abrasive rhythm, allowing for a few screeching leads while developing a haunting touch before moving on to the warlike Wolfpack, which starts off fairly slowly but shows flashes of aggression before igniting after a few growls. The track borrows from its wild punk roots to end with a more massive approach before returning to its unhealthy energy on Blackening Millenium, where the band welcomes Morgraven (Excruciate 666) on vocals, under a layer of heavy dissonance. The track gets a second wind and becomes more virulent before adopting harmonics that lead us to the impressive Sadistic and Demonic, developing a suffocating slowness to allow the band to weave its heady riffs. The rhythm section eventually explodes and carries us away in its torrent of darkness before joining Virgin Bitch – Bastard Son and its sample, then its waves of brutality with oppressive and persistent guitars, but the sound becomes livelier again with The Neverending Running Snakes, combining ethereal influences but also sharp patterns at a sustained pace. The finale returns to the sounds of the first track, but The Old Temples Below changes the atmosphere by welcoming Hellfire (Warfield, ex-Raped God 666), adding a more mystical touch to the ambient fury before gradually calming down, then letting the clear sound lead us to To Bleed a World, the last composition where rage is the order of the day, returning to its morbid influences to close the album.
While Myrkvid knows how to exploit its brutal and direct roots perfectly, Nihilist also shows us some more ethereal and desolate aspects of the band’s universe. A perfect blend of violence and mysterious sounds.
85/100