MZ. 412 - 'Svartmyrkr'



CSR257LP (12 February 2019)
Black vinyl in gatefold sleeve with download code
Barcode: 0641871745098



Swedish behemoths MZ. 412 return with their first full-length album in 13 years, once again asserting their dominion as the true Kings of Black Industrial. "Svartmyrkr" is a massive tour de force that reinvents the classic sound of MZ. 412 whilst retaining their trademark malevolent harshness.

This album is dedicated to the true hell of the north - Helheim - and the giant goddess that rules it, Hel. From blackened ritual incantations, to bleak yet beautiful dark ambient arrangements, to harsh bombastic orchestrations, this album exceeds all expectations.

MZ. 412 blur the lines between music, magick and reality. The earth trembles... the mountains quake... all light is vanquished. The Swedish overlords darken the hearts and extinguish the souls of all who bear witness to "Svartmyrkr".

Track listing:

A1. Äntra Helstraffet
A2. Öppna Helgrind
A3. Codex Mendacium
A4. Ulvens Broder
A5. Helblar
B1. Ulvens Bleka Syster
B2. Burn Your Temples, True Change
B3. She Who Offers Sorrow
B4. We Are Eternal
B5. Lokastafr Ablaze With The Thorns Of Death





Reviews:

"Svartmyrkr both meets and exceeds hype and expectation… it is clear that it is an effective culmination of everything which has come before… it has drawn together core sonics elements into a complete and unified whole, [it] both compliments and builds upon the significant legacy of Mz.412. Wholeheartedly recommended" (Noise Receptor)

"Svartmyrkr is surprisingly an evolution towards a more atmospheric musical framework where noise has a restrained, but important, place... A lot of bands would simply exhumed their old sound to please their old fans placating their nostalgia. Ulvtharm, Nordvargr and Drakh have instead decided to move their sound one step towards other territories using crafts instead of impact. Highly recommended" (4.5/5, Chain D.L.K.)

"Svartmyrkr is the blackly triumphant raising of the unholy sonic leviathan that is MZ.412. With the album the project have stepped away from their simple Black industrial label- to create a sonically multi-faceted release that dips its blacked toe in all manner of darkly experimental waters- all to make an album that will simmer & burn in one's mind long after it’s finished... Svartmyrkr was most certainly worth the wait" (4/5, Musique Machine)

"Lords of Chaos came out and now Vice readers think they're edgy. They'll buy every album some hipster website deems "essential" and then sell them all to pay for the next fad. The rest of us who have lived it half our lives will still be around to hear this group, who have been around longer than those people have been alive... the album plays as a ritual to open a gateway between our realm and another, a specific path for allowing other-dimensional entities into your life. Beware, as it will conjure emotions and mindsets you wouldn't normally experience, but it's just so damned good" (Big Takeover)

"Svartmyrkr is a powerful, primal piece of music that manages to be both intimate and cosmic in scale. A work that feels immediate and current, but also timeless... Svartmyrkr is a work of unrelenting and ever increasing dread. An album that manages to grab your attention and hold it for the space of forty-eight minutes, without a single riff or hook. Dynamic, and escalation of dread are the keys to this feat, and the resulting work feels cinematic in its scope... This is real magick" (Covenant)

"...a marriage of hell with its hellish idol, where blackened and claustrophobic industrial is paired amazingly with dark/ritual ambient, noise and black metal... everything succumbs into absolute and consuming darkness... MZ. 412 amassed the top notch of their formative elements and created another megalith, Svartmyrkr. An exclamation of marching shadows and excruciating agony melted in the anvil and fire of their sound crafting excellence!" (Toneshift)

"Svartmyrkr manages to be incredibly cinematic and tense. With oppressive and constantly building atmospheres with a martial stomp, it often does feel like it would perfectly fit as trailer music or as a soundtrack to Saruman creating the Uruk-Hai… there's always an apocalyptic and frightening feel, even in the subdued moments. Svartmyrkr is extremely immersive and engaging… It's great when a band that has been at it for this long can make something so effective and that isn't just a simple rehash" (Metal Storm)

"Combining the still nascent black metal aesthetic with strident, growling noise from the power electronics and death industrial worlds, MZ.412’s been a uniquely hoary beast for the past thirty years... aesthetics do shape mood, and the somewhat more grand and bombastic scope of Svartmyrkyr can’t help but influence one’s reaction to it... the trio have every right to indulge in a little metaphysical braggadocio in the wake of Svartmyrkyr: it’s a strong return to a sound and an ethos which they pioneered decades back, but isn’t slavishly chained to the past" (I Die:You Die)

"...it is [a] fine nightmare. I know, one should not think of nightmares as being 'fine', but it is like with horror music; you love to get spooked, right. This is what the music of MZ.412 does best: scaring the shit out of you, but positively... Everything is powerful on this record; the singing/chanting, the orchestral samples, the timpani-like drumming. It is a true celebration for the end of times" (Vital Weekly)

"Mz.412... endlich an der Front zurück, um sich abermals zu behaupten und die Nachahmer und Plagiate in den Staub zu drücken... Mz.412 mit einem solch starken Fundament aufschlagen. Das lange Warten erweist sich bei vielen Musikern in einer Art Stilbruch, beziehungsweise einem verpassten Anschluss an gewisse Erwartungen. Nicht so bei den Initiatoren Nordvargr, Drakh und Ulvtharm, die hier dunkel und martialisch ihren Weg gehen, und abermals der beschissenen Welt zeigen, wer der wahre Herrscher im Olymp des Black Industrial ist. Welcome back masters of black!" (10/10, Raben Report)

"Duistere dissonante geluiden, repeterende machinegeluiden, onbehaaglijke spoken-word-stukken, het is een vrij geforceerde manier om Mz. 412 te omschrijven... Gave industrial, nare geluiden, repeterende stukken en bovenal zeer sterk! Svartmyrkr eindigde niet voor niks op plek 1 in mijn jaarlijst" (95/100, Zware Metalen)

"...la banda más emblemática de black industrial, Mz. 412... Su contenido reafirma la esencia maldita del conjunto, aportando un brutal decálogo de propuestas que brillan por su marcada tensión, en las que se esbozan atmósferas donde se respira la agonía gestada en el inframundo... en Svartmyrkr todos los recursos utilizados se juegan con mimo y una extrema elegancia, teniendo como objetivo el definir sueños envueltos en sangre y angustia... Presenciamos un nuevo triunfo de Mz. 412. Svartmyrkr es otro disco ejemplar que eleva al podio a este conjunto sueco" (5/5, Nomelody Magazine)

"...il nuovo full-length degli originatori del black industrial è senza dubbio una delle uscite più attese del settore... Senza dubbio un lavoro variegato e del livello tecnico che era lecito attendersi da musicisti così importanti... anche oggi, forti della maturità conseguita attraverso tanti anni spesi a sviluppare una moltitudine di altri progetti, gli Mz.412 si ergono al di sopra della stragrande maggioranza della scena dark/death-ambient, ribadendo la propria indiscussa posizione di leader" (Darkroom)

"Svartmyrkr est un condensé de tout ce que MZ.412 sait faire de mieux... Les maîtres se doivent d’être à la hauteur de leur réputation, ou ils chutent. En 2019, Ulvtharm, Drakh et Nordvargr tiennent leur rang. Le temps a certes passé mais n’a semble-t-il rien entamé de leurs convictions esthétiques. À l’oeuvre reste leur chimie noire et machiniste. C’est un disque troublant dans ses atmosphères, confondant de force et terrifiant dans ses éruptions cuivrées. Un grand disque, un de plus" (Obskure Mag)

"Mit dem Album zeigt MZ.412 erneut, dass sie die wahren Könige von " Swedish Black Industrial" sind. "Svartmyrkr" ist eine massive Soundschlacht, die den klassischen Sound von MZ. 412 teilweise neu erfindet. Reinhören und staunen!" (Medienkonverter)

"...en tung, mörk och hotfull historia som utan pardon cementerar deras position i genren... ”Svartmyrkr” känns som att gå ensam i en skog med tre kilometer höga träd... När skivan sen tonar ut så märker jag att jag har mina nävar knutna väldigt hårt och att en begynnande huvudvärk spökar. Jag vet inte om det beror på alla ljudintryck eller om ”Svartmyrkr” helt enkelt har drabbat mig så hårt. Oavsett vilket är det en imponerade återkomst från genrens giganter." (Synth.nu)

"L'opera visionaria degli MZ.412 accosta in un unico luogo mentale i cruenti e distruttivi orrori di cui anche oggi si fanno portavoce... I tre scandinavi compongono, modificano, distruggono e infine ricompongono secondo una sorta di "trance" allucinata le sfaccettature delle loro idee malate, conferendo fisicità ad atroci emozioni interiori rese schiave dalla sofferenza, angoscia, rabbia e violenza... Implacabile CAPOLAVORO!" (Son Of Flies)

"...если сольное творчество Хенрика на сегодня кажется навязчивым и как следует поднадоевшим, то его старания в рамках MZ заслуживают высших похвал. Медитативный, гедонистический, сакральный, смертельный, оккультный индастриал, созданный строго по канонам nordic sound и тем не менее положенный на ультра-современное оборудование... Infernal hail тебе, Нордварг!" (Dark-World)