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Song

Utbrent

Artist

Mork

Mork backstory

Mork was created by Thomas Eriksen in 2004 as a side project… and it took nine years for a debut album to surface, in the form of Isebakke.

Since then Eriksen has emerged as one of Norway’s most talented black metal songwriters. Yes, he’s stayed close to the sonic roots of the genre, but Mork has a distinctive spectral architecture of its own… one that has evolved over the course of six full-lengths and a string of EPs.

The funeral doom-influenced Katedralen was our black metal album of the year back in 2021, and the band have become an increasingly popular draw on the festival circuit post-Covid.

Now it’s time for a new chapter to open for Mork, with Utbrent the first single to appear from their upcoming seventh opus, Syv.

In Thomas Eriksen’s own words

“Utbrent is a depiction of getting burnt out and the struggle of holding oneself standing. Even whilst silently knowing the day will actually come and break you down… the harsh punishment of living as life breaks you down and burns you out.”

The verdict on Utbrent

A churning, abrasive riff marks Utbrent’s violent birth, and the song’s opening passages are underpinned by aggression.

But in typical Mork fashion, the storm calms and Eriksen displays his command of nightside melodies across a dreamlike mid-section: there are echoes of Enslaved in these hypnotic moments, as the Norwegian’s rasp dovetails with melancholic clean vocals, and you’re drawn into the swirling track’s cavernous depths.

It certainly bodes well for the rest of Syv…

What’s next for Mork?

The band will be playing a string of shows across Europe and North America in the coming months, including the Kaltenbach Open Air festival in Austria on August 24, Royal Metal Fest in Denmark on September 14, The Bell Festival in Norway on September 28 and California Deathfest in Los Angeles on October 12.

Syv will be released on 20th September via Peaceville Records.

Mork photo by Meta photography – Terje Johansen.