Mork Gryning’s ‘Hinsides Vrede’ is worth the fifteen year wait.

Main man Goth Gorgon took a breather from extreme music for a while back in 2005 and with the massive amount of listens I’ve already given to Hinsides Vrede, I wish to sincerely thank him for coming back. Hinsides Vrede is a breathtakingly diverse and masterful record that is fast, epic, and at times, quiet and intimate. With fire, fury and space for deep contemplation, the music on Hinsides Vrede clearly reflects the title of the record which translates to “wrath of the world beyond.” As the Mork Gryning tells us, this album represents the impending doom of our world coming undone. Sadly, this seems all too appropriate here in 2020.

“Faltherren” is the first full track on the record and it not only sets the tone with its expertly delivered melodic black metal, it does give listeners a clear taste of what’s to come in the next eleven tracks. Of course, there is a great deal of diversity on this record as well which helps position this newest record from some of their earlier work.

“Without Crown” is, perhaps, a solid entry into this record for those who are not familiar with this band. It’s got the trademark black metal tremolo picking and an accessible song structure. Nearly three minutes in there’s some great harmonizing. Think Borknagar. But just a touch. “Black Spirit” has that lovely vocal harmony again, but this time it’s contained within a thrashier, deathier sounding bed of instrumentation.

“A Glimpse of Sky” is a viking metal track, again, demonstrating the diversity in Mork Gryning’s composition and influences. This will take you back a bit to Bathory and their viking era.

While Mork Gryning generally flew under the radar in their early years, likely because they were located in Sweden in the 90’s at the height of the much more commercial “Gothenberg Sound,” this band’s work clearly appeals to fans of Norwegian black metal who might also like a bit more melody. When they first started they were so incredibly young and quite talented, and what we have here is a record that still has so much of that early ferocity but with significantly better production and a wider overall array of sound. I’ve really enjoyed listening to this record a great deal thus far this Fall and I can only hope that this band will play some live shows once this whole pandemic subsides.