Gothtober- Myrkur : "Spine"

 I appreciate that Myrkur never puts out the same album twice. There have been moments I have appreciated more than others. Like most artists it is all about balance. I do not need her to make metal. It is a color she sometimes uses as a dynamic, but I am not convinced in her heart she is a metal artist. Perhaps there is a cathartic darkness she needs to purge. I think this album proves in many ways she can accomplish this without being metal. "Like Humans" does have distorted guitar on it that builds the tension, but it is an undercurrent to a bigger then song paints. The focus is her melancholy vocals, that carry a more atmospheric tone. The chorus to this song has a more focused hook than what I recall hearing from her in the past. 

"Mothlike" continues to toy with the moodier ambiance coasting through the melodies. The screamed vocals are sparse and mixed way back to sound like the shadow of a witch howling deep in the woods. There is a double tracked guitar solos that rips through a harmony, but this in and of itself does not make the song metal  "My Blood is Gold" hovers above a deeper darker speculation. Piano is the dominant instrument on this one. As a song it is not a focused as the first two. It works off creating pleasing moods , but what we stress is it's sounds vs songs. To credit it does build into a more memorable melody , but at that point we are almost at the end of the song. 

Steady double bass joins the guitars for the title track which ebbs back and forth from a post-folk flow of melody. The power chords create tension to the ethereal melodies. She brings back the black metal influence leading into "Valkyrienes". The blast beat shuffle in the back ground as the layers of vocals remain at the forefront, which they should be. She plays to her strengths on this album. Her screamed vocals also occur, but sit even further back in the mix.  "Blazing Sky" moves more like a goth rock song. This is great hooky songwriting with her vocal lines weaving into darker places. "Devil in the Detail" highlights the fact this is a more accessible album aimed at western audiences.  But it seems like she needed this kind of streamlining to refine what she does, as these are some of the best songs she has to date.  

The last song feels more like a lullaby. There is less of a backbone to it and it feels like it's intent is to create soothing atmosphere. While it is not the strongest note the album could end on, overall this album is her strongest in terms of song writing. I will give it a 9.5, and see how these songs grow on me. This refinement finds her on the more ethereal side that is closer to post-rock or goth rock, since it has more drive , it is poppy in terms of melody but not in the saccharine manner of dream pop and feels like waking from a depressive episode in the woods, rather than a fey wonderland.