Review by Felix on November 12, 2022.

Danish black metal exists in the shadow of the sounds of more productive countries, but that does not mean that dudes from the “hyggelig” country record only second tier material. ĺ Myrkri’s third full-length does not provide reason to rewrite the book of the subgenre. However, it does not need to fear international competition. The duo offers, I can already reveal that much, a solid portion of atmospheric black metal.

By the way, atmosphere is the key word when it comes to the description of the six tracks. The style of the simple but great artwork is translated into music. The songs spread a nightly, rather cold aura. Anyway, what impresses are not so much the single tracks but the record as a whole. Bag Skyggernes Slør relies on uniformity and continuity without being boring. The songs flow into each other without disturbing surprises or even obstacles. Perhaps it's not entirely wrong to place ĺ Myrkri between Inquisition, Limbonic Art and a typical Quebec BM band. These units also focus on the creation of a coherent, only rarely changing moods. Some of them do it in a more competent manner, but the guys from Aalborg also know how to pen effective lines. In particular 'Solens Stund Svinder' convinced me to buy this album. It’s opening lines have a majestic yet simultaneously untamed character and only black metal maniacs with a heart of stone can ignore such an intro (I failed). The density of this song is remarkable. Moreover, it gets obvious that ĺ Myrkri have more aces up theis sleeve than “only” an adequate atmosphere. Their good guitar work also reinforces the flavour of this tune.

Production-wise, the album is less strong than its musical content. It does not deliver a noisy mishmash, but it could be less blurred and more transparent. We do not get a very organic mix, everything seems muffled. This is not to say that the boat of the band shipwrecks; I just think that a less vague mix could have been advantageous to the final product. I am also of the opinion that a less bombastic playtime would have been good. Nearly 55 minutes for five songs and an interlude are pretty long. Not boring, but challenging for some listeners (like me). Maybe this is a general problem: bands who concentrate on hypnotic, encompassing lines exaggerate sometimes. And they cannot hide their influences. I already mentioned some of them, but the art of the Godfather of these sounds also shimmers through. The keyboard tones in the pretty calm part of 'I Stjernernes Vold' tell us that the duo is familiar with the sonic creatures of a man called Varg Vikernes.

There are more aggressive and colder black metal works than Bag Skyggernes Slør. However, the meticulously constructed tracks with their different tempos and their well-connected different parts breathe the spirit of the proliferating genre. I do not know the first two full-lengths of the band so far, but if they have the same quality, I can recommend the entire catalogue of ĺ Myrkri. Only Danish patriots should not get in touch with this output, because it does not have any hyggelig facet.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

Review by Michael on January 28, 2022.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the Emscher was the dirtiest river in Germany but it was laboriously renatured within the last couple of years. I still remember the stinking broth flowing through the Ruhr Area. It seems though that some remnants have somehow escaped from there and manifested in Abschwörung, a band originated right there, and which band members are also active in Abythic.

Manifeste des Zorns is a compilation of their three demos released from 2019 to 2021 from which only the Endzeitapokalypse demo from 2019 and their 2020 demo Alptraumdimension were released yet (the 2020 on two split releases) so that their newest one Seelenfinsternis is previously unreleased. What was put out on this release is the foulest and darkest death metal I've heard for a long time. The band varies between very fast parts and creeping, monotonous, cavernous riffing combined with some more catchy and rhythmic vibes (but not too many of course). Here and there some dissonant parts enlighten (quite some irony in here) the dark, stinking primeval death metal soup. Vocalist / guitarist M.D.B. is gasping the German lyrics so pretty sick that one can think he is going to die within the next few minutes because of suffocation. All this meshes really perfectly together and create a very uncomfortable and morbid atmosphere. All demos are produced very well (for a demo) and at least my ears cannot make out any big differences in the sound of them.

The lyrics match perfectly to this atmosphere; you cannot find any trace of positive thoughts in it. Titles like 'Todgeweiht', 'Höllentanz' or 'Ewige Agonie' speak volumes. On this compilation, pure negativity and darkness rule the world of the Germans. I would say that the harsh words sang in German match very well to this sick piece of hatred. Musically, I would recommend this output to all of you who are into lovely bands like such as Beherit (the old ones of course), Demoncy or Void Meditation Cult but with death metal vocals combined with something like the dirty and slightly insane brother of such bands like Phrenelith, Spectral Voice or Krypts.

If you are into some really sick death metal stuff, you will enjoy Manifeste Des Zorns for sure. And if you want to impress your friends with some really kind German vocabulary, too!

Rating: 8.3 out of 10