''Mareridt'' (Danish for "Nightmare") is the second studio album by
Myrkur
Myrkur is a Danish black metal band led by singer Amalie Bruun. Myrkur is a solo project within the genre of second-wave black metal. Initially, the real-life identity of the person behind the project was kept unknown. Her identity has since be ...
, the
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
project of Danish musician and singer-songwriter
Amalie Bruun. The album was released on 15 September 2017 through
Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists.
History
The label was ...
. Mareridt was recorded between
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, United States and
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark, and was produced by
Randall Dunn
Randall Dunn is an American record producer, audio engineer, and musician.
As a record producer, he has worked with musical acts such as Sunn O))), Six Organs of Admittance, Marissa Nadler, Wolves in the Throne Room, Boris, Anna Von Hausswolf ...
. The album's title is Danish for 'nightmare', in reference to the frequent occurrences of sleep paralysis and nightmares which provided the inspiration for much of the album. The album's release was promoted with the release of three singles: "Måneblôt", "Ulvinde", and "De tre piker". The album received widespread acclaim from music critics upon its release.
Background, writing and musical style
Following the release of her debut full-length album, ''
M'', Bruun toured across the United States and Europe. Returning to her home in Denmark, Bruun found herself plagued by nightmares and episodes of
sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a state, during waking up or falling asleep, in which one is conscious but is completely paralyzed. During an episode, one may hallucinate (hear, feel, or see things that are not there), which often results in fear. Episodes ...
, which she has described as "one of the worst times of her life." To cope with these nightmares, she used a notebook to document all the details and symbols in the dreams, and used them as a source of inspiration for her music. Many of the songs were written and composed on a small string instrument in a forest near her home which Bruun used as an escape and source of inspiration. The significant levels of online abuse and death threats she received also partially contributed to her mental state during this time.
In July 2017, she released a song titled 'Shadows of Silence' as part of the
Decibel
The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...
Flexidisc
The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntabl ...
series, though the song did not appear on the final album itself. It was also the first Myrkur song written and sung in English.
Critics have noted that ''Mareridt'' represents a noticeable change in musical style compared with Myrkur's previous albums. Metal Hammer wrote that the album "mostly leans closer to the earthy,
gothic folk
Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumen ...
of
Chelsea Wolfe
Chelsea Joy Wolfe (born November 14, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Her work has blended elements of gothic rock, doom metal, and folk music.
Raised in Northern California with a country musician father, Wolfe began writin ...
than
post-black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emphas ...
". They also wrote that "Where she could’ve bowed to the elitists and charged into heavier realms, instead she’s scaled back the extremity, revelling in the kind of heaviness that favours sensory impact over the hammering of guitars as she flits between English and Danish. " Some critics have compared the album favourably with artists such as
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an Australian music duo first established in Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane des ...
,
Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band from Reykjavík, active since 1994. The band comprises singer and guitarist Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal sound, fron ...
, while
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Thom Jurek argues that the album "not only bridges the stylistic diversity of her three previous releases -- the 2015 album ''
M'' and two EPS -- but extends their reach into her own creative space, which cannot easily be defined." In their review of the album,
Decibel
The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...
wrote that "black metal's just one of many textures manipulated by Bruun", and that her compositions "owe as much to
Nordic folk music
Nordic Traditional folk music, folk music includes a number of traditions of Nordic countries, especially Scandinavian. The Nordic countries are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
The many regions of the Nordic countries share certain ...
as they do to
Ulver
Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band h ...
."
Recording and production
The album was recorded between Avast! Recording Company in Seattle and Black Tornado in Copenhagen. They spent about two weeks recording the strings and folk instruments in Copenhagen before flying back to Avast! Recording Co. in Seattle to record the rest of the instrumentation. Bruun entered the recording studio with 50 songs, which producer Randall Dunn assisted her in curating into the 11 tracks that appear on the standard version of the final album (15 on the deluxe version).
Dunn stated in a
Decibel
The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...
feature article that he "helped her focus the record based on her voice and the more multifaceted folk aspect
he was going for I tried to help choose songs for the most scenic and dynamic ride as an album and sound and world."
Though Bruun had been in touch with other producers about working with them for ''Mareridt'', she ultimately went with Dunn because "If I had chosen a traditional metal producer, I don't think they would understand my classical music references or instruments like the nyckelharpa."
The album utilises a wide variety of instruments including violins, organs, the nyckelharpa, and mandola, many of which Bruun performed herself on the album. Dunn also enlisted Aaron Weaver of
Wolves in the Throne Room
Wolves in the Throne Room is an American black metal band formed in 2002 in Olympia, Washington, by brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver. They have released seven full-length albums, two live albums, and one EP to date. They have stated one of the f ...
for the recording sessions, who performs "the vast majority" of the drums on ''Mareridt''.
Critical reception
''Mareridt'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 5 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Thom Jurek gave the album 4.5/5 stars and wrote very positive assessment, describing ''Mareridt'' as "a work of atavistic mystery, unflinching honesty, and balance. It embraces everything from horror and beauty to the sacred and profane; its creator has encountered them all within, faced and accepted them, and ultimately woven them into the fabric of her being as music." He specifically highlighted the song 'Ulvinde' as the album's highlight, comparing it to
Loreena McKennitt
Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...
and
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an Australian music duo first established in Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane des ...
, and writing that these influences as well as "folk, black metal, and ambient music become one in Mykur's ambitious musicality."
NPR Music
NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...
likewise highlighted the track in their 'Songs We Love' series, and drew attention to Bruun's vocal performance. Justin Schafer wrote that "It's rough stuff, lyrically and visually, but Bruun's singing voice is beautiful. Her delivery, full of sustaining notes that subtly decay, is reminiscent of choral music — with all the ritualism, religiosity and awe it entails."
Decibel wrote that "the album's heaviness requests validation from no genre, balancing frostbitten tremolos and end-days doom with nyckelharpa and mandola flourishes", concluding that "''Mareridt'' isn't the embodiment of all that is
trve, and it's a better record for it."
Metal Hammer
''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
gave the album a flawless 5/5 rating, writing that "Not since
''The'' ''Satanist'' has extreme metal presented a vision so ready to stride into metal’s wider consciousness. Amalie has created a portal into a world torn apart by light and darkness, and what is left might just be the finest metal album of 2017, and one of the greatest albums of recent times."
Accolades
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
* Myrkur (
Amalie Bruun) – vocals, piano,
nyckelharpa
A nyckelharpa (, "keyed fiddle", or literally "key harp", plural ) is the national musical instrument of Sweden. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to cha ...
, violin, guitar, percussion, synths, organ
*
Chelsea Wolfe
Chelsea Joy Wolfe (born November 14, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Her work has blended elements of gothic rock, doom metal, and folk music.
Raised in Northern California with a country musician father, Wolfe began writin ...
– vocals (on tracks 7, 13), guitar (on tracks 7, 13)
* Ben Chisholm – guitar, programming (on track 13)
* William Hayes – guitar
* Andreas Lynge – guitar, bass
* Ole Luk – acoustic guitar (on track 15)
* Abbey Blackwell – contrabass
* Aaron Weaver – drums, percussion
* Brad Mowen – drums (on track 7), percussion (on track 7)
* Maria Franz – percussion
* Randall Dunn – synths, loops
* Christopher Juul –
Jew's harp, percussion,
mandola
The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...
* Veslemøy Aalde Heyerdahl – choir
* Ida Sandberg Motzfeldt – choir
Additional personnel
* Randall Dunn – producer, mixing, mastering
* Nickolaj Nielsen – engineer
* Daria Endresen – photography
* Christopher Juul – recording, mixing (track 16)
* Odd Nerdrum – alternative cover art on deluxe edition
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2017 albums
Relapse Records albums
Myrkur albums