Mork - Katedralen (2021)^{Release ID: 26662}

Mork's fifth album might just be one of the safest and yet thoroughly enjoyable black metal records of 2021.  The predictability of the abundant black n' roll elements on Katedralen is tempered by the harsh and cold bed on which they lie atop of.  Barking tremolos permeate the album throughout acting like some chain around the neck of the more accessible parts of the offering, reining them in with flashes of Burzum-like misery and drudgery to good effect.  As a result the almost groovy moments still retain this black metal authenticity that fans of the genre ache for.

I do not think for one minute that Mork are trying to hide these more catchy moments like they are ashamed of them or concerned of some backlash from the black metal fanbase.  They sound perfectly at ease with the melodic aesthetic to their sound that gets manipulated into these foot-stomping, rabble rousing moments that are littered throughout the album.  Operating in the kind of traditional metal riffing of Darkthrone alongside the savage delivery of Taake, Mork occupy a well-known yet unique niche that they carve over the forty-eight minutes that makes up Katedralen.

At the same time the band can deliver a brooding number like Evig intens smerte that shows they can use build to tease the construct of a song before adding grandeur to the same track with lush and urgent melodies over harsh and scathing vocals.  The simplicity to their riffs mirrors an influence from Satyricon most certainly and this penchant for memorable yet contextually true (to the genre) song writing is another trait they share also.  In their harsher moments, the band adopt a brevity akin to Craft to hammer home their message.  Yet, on the same track they can deliver an almost pagan gruffness to their sound as they explore all boundaries in sight.

Had Spectral Wound not released an album in the same year then Katedralen would place higher in my end of year list as being one of the truly rampant yet still unmistakably dank records of the year.  Mork do not quite hit the same heights of richness in the melodies that Spectral Wound managed and as result are pegged back slightly in the rankings list.  That should not overshadow the fact that this is a great album in its own right though.