MYRKUR

Mareridt RELAPSE

That an album as eclectically extreme as Mareridt is at Number 2 says something about the pervasive influence of the underground on metal in 2017. That it was a black metal record written and composed by – shock horror – a woman spoke volumes about the diversity that can now be found in the supposed metal boys’ club, and represented a triumphant ‘fuck you’ to the naysayers. Mareridt was Myrkur staring down her demons, the product of a nightmare-plagued period of prolific songwriting that harnessed her expertise as a deft multi-instrumentalist. The folk music of her native Denmark a strong presence, it offset with cold, BM fury and her overriding vocal force, by turns spellbinding, choral and terrifying. Mareridt was a record singular in expression that transcended notions of genre. A defining statement of metal’s continued evolutionary potential in 2017.