Unlike most black metal acts, Myrkur – Amalie Bruun of Ex Cops – committed the unforgivable sin of woodshedding in the deeply uncvlt realm of indie rock. On second LP Mausoleum, recorded live at an actual sepulchre in Oslo, the Danish auteur eschews metal completely, refashioning her catalog acoustically. Accompanied by piano, ex-Ulver shredder Håvard, and the Norwegian Girls’ Choir, the now-New Yorker strips away intricate instrumental passages and dramatic flourish in favor of direct, oft-soaring communication. “Jeg er Guden, I er Tjenerne” floats through a melancholy mist of ethereal voices, while “Onde Børn” rises on a majestic keyboard and falls gently on a bed of gorgeous harmonies. “Dypt I skoven” and Bathory’s “Song to Hall up High” get recast as lonely folk from a simpler century. New tune “Den Lille Piges Død” relies on pretty piano riffs as much as voice, but the a cappella “Vølvens Spådom” trumps it via Bruun duetting with the tomb’s natural acoustics. Brutal beauty.

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This article appears in August 19 • 2016.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.