Review by Raphaël on January 3, 2024.

Earlier this year, in June, Amalie Bruun a.k.a. Myrkur, wrote a soundtrack for a play, by The Royal Theater of Denmark, called Ragnarok. It was a short 24 minutes of epic and atmospheric folk, infused with a good dose of metal, coming back to her roots, since her last album dropped all metal influences. Don’t get me wrong, Folkesange was an excellent album, full of talent, talent and creativity but as a fan of metal, I missed the old Myrkur sound, so this short soundtrack gave me hope for her next album. A short four months later, Spine was released. I was not prepared for what she had to offer. It is still distinctively Myrkur, no doubt about it, but she added a good dose of catchiness and, dare I say it, pop to her sound! She always was a bit of a controversial figure in the black metal world, since she doesn’t seem to follow any rules and mix second wave atmospheric black with a lot of Nordic folk and post-rock ambiances and sensibilities. And for the average black metal fan, this isn’t “trve” and/or “kvlt” enough. But art done in a too restrictive box, rapidly becomes derivative. This is absolutely not a problem Amalie has. This album will cement her reputation of doing whatever the hell she wants and yet staying true to her vision and making an incredibly emotional and the cohesive work of art, inspired by her experience of becoming a mother. In an interview with Newnoisemagazine, Amalie stated that ‘Ok, now I want to write music again. I need to go back to that more harsh sound to get started and ignite that fire again.’ And ignited, the fire sure was!

The album starts with 'Bålfærd', a completely instrumental piece that start with soft humming voice. Soft nyckelharpa notes quickly joins her angelic voice and it immediately sounds a hundred percent Myrkur! The first single I heard was 'Like Humans', and it’s a very interesting choice. The song starts with ominous black metal chords but, she starts to sing with her beautiful clean voice, culminating in a buildup on drums that leads directly into the chorus, which is a super simple and catchy melody, dripping with pop influences, sang with her melodic voice. This is truly an infectious ear worm and it will immediately turn off a good portion of metal fans but, if you continue, a lot of surprises are to come. After a few choruses, another drum buildup starts and leads to an atmospheric pause, with only a few quiet vocals, to then immediately explode with a furious blastbeat! Myrkur’s soft voice in contrast with aggressive metal is why I fell in love with her sound in the first place!

'Mothlike', the second single and follow-up to the song 'Like Humans', starts with simple piano notes and then quickly transitions into a synth heavy, super poppy bridge that leads once again, into one of the catchiest choruses she ever wrote, showing us her songwriter talent. Speaking of songwriting talent, the song slows down a bit, going into a super atmospheric section, to again explode with a blast beat, maintained for quite some time, all the while she softly humms with the occasional fierce scream layered on top. This brilliantly changes the mood completely and just when you’re starting to get in this angrier state of mind, she brings it back to the original chorus. Not for long tho as another blastbeat begins and this time, accompanied by a shredding solo, a quite rare, if not a first for Myrkur! After these two songs, it’s clear that she doesn’t preoccupy herself with genre boxes and seamlessly blends everything, always in a cohesive way.

'My Blood Is Gold' is a slow, simple and atmospheric song that can be viewed as an interlude before the rest of the album. A few piano and nyckelharpa notes played softly, that gives enough breathing room to her sometimes soft, sometimes powerful, but always melodic, angelic voice. The emotions tapped into are rendered and communicated so well, it’s all very raw in its softness. This song was written as an homage to her deceased father, the Danish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Michael Bruun. So, on top of the already musically extremely emotional song, the lyrics takes the emotions even further! When she sings: “Cause my blood is gold, I'm invincible, Because my blood is cold, Bodies scattered around, On the ground” it hits you “right in the feels”, as the experience of losing a loved one is simultaneously incredibly difficult and yet, so common.

The title track, 'Spine', begins with a nyckelharpa and a few piano notes all accompanied by her soft and cheery voice that transports you on a cold and snowy morning, with fluffy snow dropping slowly and dancing in the air. The mood changes as the music progresses, with drums and more powerful clean vocals, to eventually reach a paroxysm, with blastbeats and tremolo riffing. Once again, the lyrics are what makes the song: "Swim in the icy lake, I no longer feel the ache, My body made your spine, You and I intertwine, You made me human". Masterful way of putting in words the miracle of life creation. Not being someone who can form life inside his body, I can only imagine how deeply it changes you as a person.

The remaining four songs all have something different and yet sound familiar. 'Valkyriernes Sang' is easily my favourite and I hope it becomes a live staple. It is the most epic sounding, straightforward and old-school style, Myrkur song you will get on the album! She even screams her lungs out around the middle part. Truly a joy to hear her powerful black metal screams once again and more than once on the album, I might add! And I can’t not mention the last track, 'Menneskebarn'. A beautiful lullaby she softly sings for her son: “My boy, Let me hold you, Listen to my voice, Sleep my child, Sleep Sleep my child, I will always be here”. I imagine her, just rocking him gently beside a warm fire and it puts me immediately in a good mood.

There it is, everything here is perfect, the production, the mix, the mastering, Amalie! The album feels warm but still very raw and atmospheric. The drums are much more in the background and contribute to the overall atmospheric sound. The pop influences she added, work surprisingly well and make the album sound completely fresh. Honestly, it’s the kind of album that I only wish was a bit longer, at only 34 minutes. Myrkur continues to evolve and build upon her unique sound and proves once again, what a valuable addition to the metal world she is.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10