Myrkskog’s “Deathmachine” is a criminally underrated album in my opinion, and probably a big influence on Zyklon’s “World Ov Worms” released the following year. Of course, the two bands share a member (Destructhor - guitars), which may explain much of the similarity, but with an otherwise relatively unknown line-up (unlike Zyklon), Myrkskog were not able to gain the publicity for their debut album that they deserved.

Myrkskog play a brutally fast hybrid of black and death metal, comparable to bands such as Emperor and Morbid Angel. Instrumental performances are top-notch, especially Sechtdamon blasts the drums furiously throughout the entire album, and definitely ranks among the best (fastest) drummers in the Norwegian scene. Refer to tracks such as “A Poignant Scenario of Horror” for some of the fastest blast-beats ever recorded. The well-produced guitars and occasional ambient synths soar above the ferocious drums to create a thick and aggressive soundscape, perfected by the demonic voice of Master V, which sounds like a lower-pitched black metal grunt, and complements the atmosphere very well.

As with most albums of this nature, the tracks don’t differ all too much from each other. Naturally, there are a few stand-out tracks such as the aforementioned “A Poignant…”, “Sinthetic Lifeworm”, and “Morphine Mangled Torture”, but the slight lack of variation is what prevents this album from reaching the highest grade in my opinion. Nevertheless, I recommend this debut album of these brutal Norwegians for anyone into aggressive and fast metal of any kind, and I especially urge all Zyklon fans to check this one out if you haven’t already. This is where ‘cyber’ extreme metal really started.

Year Released: 2000
Label: Candlelight Records
Related Link: Myrkskog Official Site
Date Reviewed: 2004-09-27
Author: Goblin