''Mausoleum'' is a live album by the Danish band

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 ...

, released 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 ...

on 19 August 2016. It consists of acoustic and choral versions of Myrkur's music, which originally had been released as heavy metal songs. ''Mausoleum'' was recorded in the in Oslo, Norway, and features the and the guitarist

Håvard Jørgensen Håvard Jørgensen (born 26 September 1975), also known as Haavard, Lemarchand, is a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. He was the original guitarist of the Norwegian black metal bands Satyricon and Ulver. Career Satyricon One of the initiato ...

Recording

''Mausoleum'' is a live album with songs by the Danish heavy metal project

, rearranged for acoustic and choral performances. Most tracks are from Myrkur's debut album '' M'' (2015). One song, "Den lille piges død", was new. In addition to Myrkur's songs, there are two cover songs:

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...

's lullaby "" and Bathory's "Song to Hall Up High". The recording took place in the , which is a

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

the Norwegian artist

Emanuel Vigeland Emanuel Vigeland (2 December 1875 – 22 December 1948) was a multitalented Norwegian artist. He is known for a variety of decorations of Scandinavian churches and for ''Tomba Emmanuelle'', his mausoleum at Slemdal in Oslo. His elder brother ...

designed for himself in Oslo and which was turned into a museum after his death. The music was performed by Myrkur's

Amalie Bruun Amalie Bruun (born 6 January 1985) is a Danish musician, actress and model. She is the leader of the one-person black metal project Myrkur and the former lead singer of the indie pop band Ex Cops, which was active from 2011 to 2014. Bruun's iden ...

who accompanied herself on piano, together with the and the guitarist

Reception

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independe ...

''s Pernille Jensen called ''Mausoleum'' magnificent and evocative and described it as "metal with an elf-like girls' choir" that gave her goosebumps. Mattias Kling of ''

Aftonbladet ''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan H ...

'' wrote that ''Mausoleum'' sees Myrkur go as far as possible in infusing

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 ...

with mystical, eerie and folkloric elements. He wrote that although the music is beautiful, and the performance creates inner images of what the live concert must have been like, the album gives the feeling of only being "half the experience". Christoffer Bertzell of ''

Nöjesguiden ''Nöjesguiden'' (Swedish for "the entertainment guide") is a Nordic free-of-charge young adult monthly magazine, available in the major cities in Sweden, which was established in 1982. It is also published with similar format In Finland under th ...

'' said it is "hard to not be moved" by the "ominous and gloomy melodies" and recommended people to try to recreate the original concert setting by listening to the album "in a dark and cold cave". ''

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 ...

''s Dom Lawson wrote that ''Mausoleum'' may not convince black metal purists, for whom Myrkur was controversial and regarded as " hipster-friendly", but Lawson called the album "startling, extreme in its own way and occasionally rather magical".

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 wrote that the stripped-down versions of the songs reveal both Myrkur's and the entire black metal genre's heritage from European folk music, and that the interplay between Bruun's piano and Jørgensen's guitar adds a classical element. He said the album should appeal to listeners who enjoy

crossovers Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

between classical music,

dark wave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

Recording

Reception

Track listing

Charts

References