Mylingen – Under en svart himmel
Band: Mylingen
Title: Under en svart himmel
Label: Independent
Release date: June 21st, 2024
Country: Sweden
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording
Mylingen is a Swedish Melodic Black/Death Metal consisting of two members: Viktor Jonas, the founder of the band and the one playing all the instruments; and Eric Holmberg, the vocalist. Just by taking a look over this album, I find some unsettling things (in a good sense, eh): the dark artwork (done by Viktor himself), the name of the band (“myling” in Scandinavian folklore stands for “the phantasmal incarnations of the souls of unwanted children killed by their mothers and forced to roam the Earth until they could persuade someone to bury them properly”). Also, the album and songs titles, very dark indeed: (here are the translated titles:) Harbinger of Death – Shipwrecked – Beneath a Black Sky – Towards the End of Life – In the Dark Depths of the Water – Misery … and all the lyrics are in Swedish, adding the perfect final touch to this melancholic work.
I’ve said dark, melancholic, and I would add highly melodic and with a somber atmosphere all through the album, in order to define it. Or, trying to define it. Because this music has so many elements, so many details in the six songs that confirms this album, that it results very hard to encapsulate it in just a few words.
If you want an album full of blast beats, sorry but this is not the thing. What is mostly used here is a medium/slow tempo in all songs, and it has a really charming effect. The captivating melodies build a dark and, at times, mournful atmosphere that wraps you completely. That’s the strongest point of this album, in my opinion: the ability to make you feel safe and comfortable in a sorrowful environment.
The guitar harmonies are an outstanding thing in these six tracks, they do a massive work fitting together, and also the bass, that’s constantly resonating and fulfilling all the empty spaces with its deep sound, it makes everything better. Vocals sound dark, raspy, threatening, coming out from a tortured soul’s throat. They are perfect.
I love it when, at times, there’s a break in the middle of a song and it seems like the world around me stops with the music. When drums disappear, and there’s only guitars and keys playing a delicate melody, like in the opener “Ett dödens bud”, and when the bass joins it’s totally overwhelming; or, in the closing track, the mysterious and ghostly passage where guitars build an emotional melody upon a synth basis, it’s like jumping into another dimension for a while…
And about other instrumentation: there are some ethereal synths floating almost everywhere and conferring this album its special atmosphere. The piano brings the melancholy up to another level, it sets the gloomy ambiance for you to bury in it. It’s not joy that spreads, but sorrow and desolation, and it feels good to embrace this feeling.
Just as an example of how amazing the lyrics are (if you don’t understand Swedish you can translate, just as I did), here’s an example of its beautiful dark poetry: (from “Under en svart himmel”):
“I mardrömmarnas vildmark
Under den svarta himlen
Finns ingenstans att fly
Inga stjärnor lyser upp din väg
Ingen gryning syns mot horisonten
Så frukta natten,
Och drömmarnas mörker
Där det ända slutet,
Är själars död”
Don’t know how accurate it is, but this is the translation:
“In the wilderness of nightmares
Under the black sky
There is nowhere to escape
No stars light your way
No dawn is visible on the horizon
So fear the night,
And the darkness of dreams
Where the very end,
Is the death of souls”
These are the kind of lyrics I love, and even if I can’t understand the language, the music turns the spoken words into something magic and full of meaning to me.
A good dose of melancholy and despair is needed, sometimes. Let Mylingen be your open door to these emotions. I give this album 9/10 Sílvia
9/10 Epic Storm
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