From the opening track, ‘I Tåkens Virvel’, the thick-sounding riffs and the harmonized bass guitar indicate why the album is different from the previous Mork albums. The tempo is organic and backed by the beating drums and aggressive vocals. To a certain extent, the guitar incorporates melodies and blackened atmosphere.

While the early material was more influenced by black’n’roll and Darkthrone the composition here delivers a wide variety of styles. The songwriting leans into creative and progressive territories with the slower riffing being polished. The song gradually sprawling in the melodic guitar textures on ‘Holmgang’ has some folky soundscapes that ebb and flow. Over the years Mork has been reputed to stand as one of the modern old-school black metal bands. However, the individual talent of Thomas Eriksen has outgrown to encapsulate shrewd musical abilities.

The evolving nature is best displayed in the ‘Heksebål’. The melodies create a denser feel and the blackened riffs explode. The guitars never cease to impress me with the melodic and mid-tempo sensibility. The lead guitars are just superb and the song structure is more refined which somehow reflects the sonic method, the guitar arrangements showcasing the peak of creativity of Thomas Eriksen.

Suddenly ‘Utberent’ hits you with an avalanche of blasting drums. The guitar utilizes some tremolo-picked riffs, at this point the tempo becomes rawer and the raspy growls give you the shrills. The main riff is catchy and there are also some clean vocal passages during the slower tempos before moving into a mid-paced riff. There are varied tempos in the song that underline the quality of the composition.

The unique form of black metal in the album allows for the songs to expand and this style serves for more dynamics and melodic guitar sections that move into grooves in ‘Med Døden Til Følge’. It begins with the typical black metal tremolo picking before the bass guitar adds a beautiful texture. Mork brings in an organic combination of upbeat tempo and some folk melodies.

The grim black metal atmosphere is perfectly layered in songs like ‘Ondt Blod’, the fastest offering that delivers the signature vocals of Thomas Eriksen, and the tremolo-picked riffs come off catchy.

The guitar work delivers some straight-up furious black metal. Even the bass guitar is emphasized almost in all tracks. The drums kick hard in some sections, yet the creativity retains its peak in the song ‘Tidens Tann’. In my opinion, this is one of the highlights of the album that consistently demonstrates the catchy guitar lines before the juxtaposing of the melodic hooks, shimmering guitar chords and the melodic themes sound hunting.

‘Til Syvende Og Sist’ and ‘Omme’ are instantly catchy: the first is an instrumental song that starts with the slow atmospheric riffing and the use of keyboards makes it one of the more varied songs that evolves in a swaggering musicianship.

The effect of the mid-tempo drums and the bass guitar enhance the tempo changes and rhythmic patterns. The latter is sung in Norwegian. The song features melancholic clean vocals as you can hear the guitar strings embracing the Scandinavian folk elements. However, the acoustic fusion was rather surprising.

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