Deathmachine

Ever seen the film Death Machine? The one where Brad Dourif builds a giant robotic dog that proceeds to do battle with an ensemble of computer hackers that smoke out of the most absurd spliffs you've ever seen? While it is largely forgotten for good reasons, it is still a blast if you are in the right mood, and the same can certainly be said for Myrkskog similarly-titled debut: Deathmachine. It is hard to believe that this is essentially the continuation of Odium, which was more or less a Limbonic Art worship band that delivered a passable nod to their idols in The Sad Realm of the Stars. While Myrkskog naturally shuffles the deck a bit regarding the lineup, there are still a number of familiar faces here - many of which went on to bigger and (arguably) better things in the death metal field.

This is essentially Zyklon's World ov Worms a full year before said album was even released. The post-apocalyptic, portentous atmosphere is here in spades, as trenchant swirls of distortion laced with Morbid Angel dissonance immolate flesh while Lindberg does his best Daemon impersonation in the background. The vocals are more subsonic than on World ov Worms, but at the same time less fluid and more choppy. It doesn't come off as a compositional flaw, but more of a stylistic decision on the band's part. I honestly have trouble deciding which approach I prefer, as Myrkskog make a pretty convincing case through their ability to traverse a multitude of disparate styles while clutching their black metal origins close to their vile hearts.

In fact, Deathmachine is at times more of a nod to nebulous black metal bands like Inquisition than it is traditional death metal, as swirling tremolos intertwine with scant atmospheric keyboards to craft a monolith of misanthropy that disregards both restraint and corporeal limitations. The guitar tone is almost always a compressive, asphyxiating mid-level haze of distortion that settles right around ear level, patiently waiting to char unsuspecting eardrums. The tone is slicing and modern, lacking treble but making up for it in low-end girth. The dearth of leads and solos all but makes this an afterthought, as the dense sonic layers tend to inveigle the listener potently with little outside help. While Ingebrigtsen was a functional-enough front man for the final incarnation of Zyklon, he is actually much more impressive as a drummer. He gives Torson a run for his money here, constructing a flattening wall of double-bass and quick fills whose clicky delivery adds the slight industrial sheen that helps set Myrkskog apart from the overcrowded pack.

Armed with a crushing modern production, Deathmachine works well with the impressive hand it is given, embodying a cross-section of Gateways to Annihilation and mid-era Emperor. The later shift of half of this lineup into Zyklon was no mistake on Samoth's part, as the potential is glaring and evident here. The only arguable low point is the closer "Pilar Deconstruction", which is an extremely dated attempt at a drum & bass remix of "Syndrome 9". It hasn't aged well, but is passable for what it is and is relatively forgivable in hindsight. If there are any true industrial undercurrents on Deathmachine, most of them certainly reside in this track.

While a relatively coherent case can be made that much of this material blurs together, it doesn't necessarily come off as much of a hindrance within Deathmachine's incendiary confines. While Myhren continues to waste his talents in the modern Morbid Angel outfit, I remain optimistic to see what the rest of Myrkskog can bring us in the future. Hits you like a ton of bricks and leaves you delirious gasping for more.

Deathmachine is a truly aggressive, threateningly brutal album. Myrkskog’s mix of death metal and black metal works very nicely, with the best aspects of both genres shining through in their music. This doesn’t seem to be an incredibly revered album, which I feel is a shame. Deathmachine deserves much more recognition than it currently has.

The majority of the album is fast and brutal, fitting alongside most modern death metal very well, yet there are moments when the tempo slows down in order to offer a breather of sorts. Even these parts are far from relaxing, however. There is often an underlying melody in the music, that whilst it sounds nice, the guitar and drum work surrounding it prevents the harsh mood from being tarnished. Whatever hint of beauty that may be hidden in the music is drowned out by the chaos surrounding it, therefore even these sections are not truly a respite from the blasting that is otherwise present. Myrkskog’s black metal roots are apparent when you listen to these parts. One notable example is in the middle of The Hate Syndicate, which is otherwise an incredibly fast song, yet slows down for a bit in order to thoroughly intimidate the listener.

Destructhor and Savant M’s guitar work on its own justifies owning Deathmachine. Many brutal death metal bands have been accused from time to time of de-emphasizing the riffwork in their music to focus on having as brutal music as possible, instead of creating something with a hook that draws you into the music, like many traditional metal bands do. I feel that Myrkskog has succeeded in creating some middle ground between these two approaches. This is a very blastbeat-heavy album, and the guitars are playing at full-speed 90% of the time, but attention is also given to creating songs that stick in your head long after you stop listening. It may not seem possible to create music that’s simultaneously catchy, atmospheric, and brutal, but somehow Myrkskog has done it. It’s worth noting that a lot of riffs in the album, particularly after the first minute or so of Discipline Misanthropy, sound much like what you might hear from a thrash metal band. Thrash metal is not quite as apparent here as death or black metal are, but out of nowhere, Myrkskog might throw in a palm-muted riff or two that you can’t help but headbang to. Fans of thrash metal may find themselves at home, since one of the most identifiable characteristics of the genre manages to shine through here.

The vocals don’t stand out immediately in comparison to the rest of the music, but the vocalist/bassist, Master V, does his job here. He manages to strike a medium pitch, that is not quite as deep as most death metal, yet also is not as high-pitched as most black metal either. I suppose the gravelly sound of his voice would identify it more as being a death metal vocal style, but it complements the more atmospheric black metal-ish parts of the album as well. He sounds like a fierce demonic monster that has just been freed from captivity, and is free to wreak his havoc. As far as drums are concerned, Sechtdamon’s performance stands out. He does spend a lot of time blastbeating, but it rarely sounds monotonous. The rest of the music certainly calls for a vicious drum accompaniment, and Sechtdamon fulfills that need, but he adds enough flair so as to help keep the songs from droning on. There are numerous fills, and many changes to the beats themselves, so it is rare that the exact same thing is being played for too long.

Overall, this album actually sounds very professional. Those looking for rawer metal may be disappointed, but I feel the polished production fits the music. It sort of reminds me of Fear Factory’s Demanufacture in more ways than one. The songs sound very rehearsed and practiced, almost like a machine is playing at times. There are also numerous synth effects and voice samples that play at certain points during the album. These never steal the show, but like with Fear Factory’s music, they help add to the “industrial” feel of the music. Some may consider that a negative, but fear not; this is definitely not a sterile-sounding album in any way. It is quite the opposite; Myrkskog are relentless and uncompromising in their conviction towards playing extreme metal. One might compare it to Slayer’s Reign in Blood, which also has an incredibly polished sound, yet remains one of Slayer’s most intense albums yet. Deathmachine accomplishes the same goal of creating polished, yet powerful extreme metal.

One curious addition to the end of the album is a techno remix of the song Syndrome 9. On its own Syndrome 9 is a good representation of Myrkskog’s sound, but this remix, Pilar Deconstruction, turns it on its head with breakbeats and a record scratch, making the song into something one could possibly either dance or headbang to. It’s a rather odd remix, but I like it. It’s unexpected, and it’s placed at the end so one is not required to listen to it should they not feel inclined.

If there’s one thing that I find disappointing about this release, it would be the absence of certain songs’ lyrics in the lyric booklet. A couple of them are there, but about half of the songs’ lyrics are not printed, which is a disappointment. My personal favorite song, A Poignant Scenario of Horror, is one of them, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason why certain songs’ lyrics were printed while others were not. The lyrics that are present deal mainly with themes such as gore and torture, which is by no means unprecedented for metal music, so who knows why certain lyrics weren’t released. Aside from that letdown, the packaging itself is decent. Some of the band photos look like something you’d see in a Cradle of Filth album, but the front cover, which shows a blood-drenched turbine, appears cold and bleak, like what you might see in some of Fear Factory’s artwork. It fits the atmosphere of the music well.


I can’t recommend this enough. Myrkskog’s debut is a classic which is well worth hearing to anyone looking for a rather original piece of extreme metal. Fans of bands ranging from Sarcofago and Emperor, to Fear Factory, and even some thrash metal like Destruction will find something to like here. Myrkskog’s music covers many facets of metal, and succeeds at them all.

Norway has far better bands to offer than Myrkskog. They're average. Average talent, average song writing, average sound/style. (Also, Candlelight Records normally has great bands to offer.)

Their mixture of black and death metal is done it such a way, it's pretty much just plain boring. On songs such as "Sinthetic Lifeworm" they undulate between the two genre's very blatently. The drums are bland and straightforward, with decent black metal style/production. Sometimes I even detected tempo changes, to most listeners, it probably won't be a problem, but it annoys me. There's some ambience thrown in on a few tracks ... it helps. But over all, the guitar overtly repetitive parts can't be saved. Just about all the songs, for some strange reason, in the middle, seem to drag out, and go no where. It's like instead of a bridge, they decided to take the riff they were already playing, and stretch it clear to the other end of the song. The bass is lost in the production, and is for all my knowledge, perhaps not even there.

The vocals are pretty weak, as well. They range from a lower type of scream, to speech-like growls, that sound generally weak. When blasting and faster guitar work is going on, they're drowned out anyway. When playing fast, higher notes, the guitar tends to fade out, as well.

The CD's not all bad though, I found myself nodding my head to Morphinemangled Torture. It has some good rhythmes in it, and a good solo. (Unfortunately, it was also somewhat drowned out toward the end) ...

Nothing special here. It's probably not worth you time, unless you're big on the black metal from Norway.