(written by Islander)
Myr is a new band composed of two experienced Polish musicians who appear here under the names Svartan and TZommer. They are quite forthright in their goals for Myr: to express their passion for the heritage of such Scandinavian black metal bands as Satyricon, Bathory, and Dissection, and to create anthems rooted in those traditions that invoke moods of mysticism, darkness, and the brutal intensity of the Nordic wilderness.
They have set June 20 as the release date their debut album Hellvegen, and to help spread the word we’re hosting the premiere of a video for a song from the album named “Brennt“.
From what you’ve already read, it’s clear that Myr aren’t chasing trends or attempting some radical innovation, but are instead honoring a rich musical legacy whose origins are now many decades in the past. As you’ll discover even from “Brennt” standing alone, they’ve done so with passion and power, dynamic songcraft, and a clear understanding of what makes a song both immediately arresting and durably memorable.
“Brennt” proves to be both hellish and haunting, indeed mystical but in more ways than one. In its opening phase Myr quickly send the intensity into a frightening red zone. Deploying furious blast-beats and magma-like bass lines as the drive-train, they unfurl roiling tremolo’d riffs that create a feeling of predatory supernatural menace as those searing yet also dismal chords rise and fall.
The vocals are every bit as infernally ferocious as the music, and even more explosive. Yet one sign of Myr‘s dynamic and memorable craftsmanship comes in the song’s chorus, when the fanatical savagery of the vocals suddenly shifts into soaring sung words that convey a kind of passionate reverence, accompanied by fiery bursts of ecstatic fretwork.
The song undergoes a dramatic change near its mid-point, shifting to strummed acoustic guitars and distant horn-like blasts. What follows is a slow marching rhythm and a different mood from how the song began. The melody is expansive and magisterial but also emotionally beleaguered and bereft.
In addition to providing visions of the band’s members, the video brings together other film imagery that enhances the music’s supernatural terrors and tribulations.
Helvegen was mixed and mastered by the famed Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio (Watain, Mayhem, Tribulation) in Sweden. The album features cover art and layout by Daniel Rusilowicz. For more info about the album and the band, and to stream their music, check out the locations linked below.
Also below, you’ll find a gripping video for the first single released from the album, “Saturnine Child“. It provides a different view of the band’s talents as compared to “Brennt“. It’s both more atmospheric and more hard-rocking, even more majestic and sweeping, but also feral, frightening, freezing, and forlorn. Once again, the ferocity of the vocals is shattering.
MYR ONLINE:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myrnorge
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myrhelvegen/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7LDyUBD0dQ83jZwZWpNtG8?si=hCy1lG04SMu8xJdwH_9tDQ