MORK – Syv

vote
7.5

• Band:
  MOROCCO
• Duration: 00:49:13
• Available from: 20/09/2024
• Label:

• Peaceville

Twenty years of career is no small achievement, and Mork celebrate it in the best possible way: with an honest album that confirms their position among the most significant bands of the new Norwegian black generation.
“Syv” – simply 'seven' in Norwegian, like the number of albums released – is a testament to how Thomas Eriksen, by releasing a new work, not only wants to wave a flag every few years to confirm that he is alive and well, but also wants to leave some distinctive mark under the Mork brand.
This time around, the leap is particularly felt, given how certain tendencies that were previously only suggested are transformed into key elements of the work: a certain progressive vein and a respectable epic impact are immediately striking, which brings them closer to Enslaved (“Holmgang”) than to the traditional references to Darkthrone, Kampfar and company.
There is a lot of melody and melancholy, which goes beyond the threshold of intimacy in the delicate, acoustic “Omme”, not by chance placed at the end, almost as if to act as a bridge to new, future musical shores. Before this, “Ondt Blod” recalls Emperor a lot: straight and evil, without losing anything of the aforementioned progressive taste, while the instrumental “Til Syvende Og Sist” also includes sampled strings and traditional instruments; the result makes you smile a little in the passage from the square riff at the beginning to the final tarantella, but it testifies to the excellent executive ability.
Let's go back even further to quote “Utbrent”: perhaps the most malicious song of the lot, placed halfway along this path. evolutionaryperfect to remember, beyond this new 'wall of sound' dimension, where Mork come from.
Avoiding pure repetition, growing musical seeds mentioned above, without losing their identity and integrity: an impossible goal for many bands, which we feel Eriksen has fully achieved with this album.