Murg - Varg & Björn

Share this on Facebook | Share this on Twitter

Somewhere in the darkest corners of a snow covered forest in Sweden lies the birthplace of MURG.  It is well guarded by trolls and the location is only known to a select few sorcerers and cultists.  More than this, it would seem no mortal is meant to know.

The release of the debut album from this mysterious duo has come like a sudden rising of Azazel from the bowels of Hell.  “Varg & Björn” translates as “Wolf & Bear” and that imagery resonates through the album very well.  The core sound throughout is one of the old school, the foundations of GORGOROTH, BURZUM and MAYHEM can all be heard permeating the instruments and vocals on each song.  The sheer desolate nature of old Norwegian Black Metal is omnipresent on the record and MURG have done a fantastic job of recreating that raw dread that made the early offerings so distinct, so dark.

The album opens with what I can only imagine are the sounds of something rotting away in an open grave.  Flies buzzing around the corpse and a squelching that sounds very much like tiny mouths eating away at rotted flesh.  No time for hanging around though as the album kicks into “Nejderna Brinner” and the tone is set for thoughts of ancient evils running around sky-clad in forests looking for a church to devour.  The pace is ferocious and the vocals are near perfect, they don't sound like a bad parody of Black Metal but they are also not as Death consumed as maybe BEHEMOTH or many other bands can be.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this album though is that it has managed to combine both old and new so well.  They have managed to find a a balance between a raw sound and utilizing modern production.  The album doesn't sound too crisp or over-produced but it also doesn't have that terrible lack of audible qualities that so many die-hard purists end up drowning in.  Put shortly, it sounds bloody good but stays true to the original timbre of black metal.

All in all, I have no idea who these evil bastards are but they have sent forth a sweet demon song from the heart of Sweden and anyone looking for a new soundtrack to their rituals could do much worse than to give MURG a listen.