Myrkskog

Myrkskog - Superior Massacre
Candlelight Records, 2002
Genre: Death Metal

1. Intro
2. Domain of the Superior
3. Detain the Skin
4. Trapped in Torment
5. Indisposable Deaths
6. Over the Gore
7. Blood Ejaculation
8. Utter Human Murder
9. Bleeding Wrists
10. Outro

This was a highly anticipated album by myself and everyone else who had the pleasure of hearing "Deathmachine." I’ll be honest, the first time I heard "Superior Massacre" I was greatly disappointed. I have since deemed it a fairly good album, but still, it does not come close to being as good as "Deathmachine" ever was.  Many of the reasons "Deathmachine" stood out to me are no longer present in this Myrkskog album. Now I’ve always encouraged bands to change and explore their styles aggressively, never settling for something another band has already accomplished. For the most part Myrkskog continue to stay somewhat true to my criteria for truly creative musicianship, but "Superior Massacre" lends itself to using song formats that have already been used. I feel that after "Deathmachine’s" creative onslaught makes "Superior Massacre" a poor follow-up album.

That being said I’ll now address why this album is a poor follow-up. Song after song on "Superior Massacre" is nothing but rehashed Morbid Angel and Deicide riffing, it is still quite good riffing though. However, I will say this, Morbid Angel and Deicide have both begun to fall from their Death Metal thrones and maybe it is time for them to stand aside for conquering bands such as Myrkskog who still have a great understanding of what good Death Metal song writing format is. While the riffing used has already been done, it has not been used for quite some time. I applaud Myrkskog for trying to make this wake-up call in a metal scene is greatly lacking in creativity and hopefully it did not fall on deaf ears. The riffing is not a direct rip-off mind you. The Deicide and Morbid Angel riffing is, instead, combined together with the crazy riffing of normal Myrkskog giving the overall presentation a fiercer attack upon the listener. For a direct example of Morbid Angel riffing put to good use see "Trapped in Torment" which has riffs that I could see being used on "Domination" one of the most revolutionary albums ever released in Death Metal and that stand even today.

Some of the more major differences from "Deathmachine" are that Destructhor has taken up the vocals and Master V is no longer with the band. Destructhor’s vocals tend to stick with a more monotone vocal pattern used in Death Metal. They’re not as powerful or in your face as Master V and certainly not as coherent, but they do compliment the new Myrkskog sound effectively. I am saddened to see Master V leave the band for I thought his vocals were quite unique and very well put in their style. Another item that is sorely missed is the catchy-groove riffs that could be encountered all over the "Deathmachine" album. I’m afraid that catchy part is forever gone. However, one song stands out to me because it sounds the most like something that was written around the time of "Deathmachine" and that is "Indisposable Deaths." I feel this song is so well written that it should be enough for fans of "Death Machine" to buy this album. An improvement that should be pointed out is the drumming on this album. It is simply an incredible improvement on Secthdamon’s behalf. While his drum performance is nothing less than impressive on "Deathmachine", one can hear his labors come to life in the technical nature and speed found on this new album.

In closing I would like to state that I do find this to be a great listen, but it doesn’t stand out as much to me as "Deathmachine" did when I first heard that album. However, I do enjoy being brought back to the days of early Death Metal when it was truly a force to be reckoned with and I hope Myrkskog can bring forth a revival. For it does seem to me that creative Death Metal is lying in the hands of Black Metal artists such as Behemoth, Zyklon, Bloodthorn, and obviously Myrkskog.