Misþyrming - Algleymi

By Justin C. You’d be forgiven if, like me, you tended to get a little lost in the Icelandic black metal scene. The number of bands and seemingly relentless release schedules might make it hard to find a new favorite band to

By Justin C.


You’d be forgiven if, like me, you tended to get a little lost in the Icelandic black metal scene. The number of bands and seemingly relentless release schedules might make it hard to find a new favorite band to hang your hat on. Add in unique Icelandic characters--like “þ”, or as I call it, “p with a horn”--and it can be hard for dumb Americans like myself to even communicate about the bands effectively.

I think Misþyrming’s newest, Algleymi, might add some clarity to my life, though. I was so blown away by the promo that I’m writing about it after just two listens, which is a pretty big departure from my usual “10 or more listens with notes” anal retentive approach. Simply put, this album rips and roars in all the right ways. I’ve listened to--and even enjoyed--a fair amount of obscure-leaning black metal, but Algleymi is furious and, at times, downright catchy.

The album starts off with a far-off-sounding yelp before launching into frenetic, no-frills black metal. “No frills” in this case doesn’t mean simplistic or boring, though. The tremolo riff that starts the opening track might hew pretty close to the second wave we know and love, but throughout the albums, the riffs are always melodic, but sometimes majestic, triumphant, chiming, or mysterious in tone. The vocals are a bit lower in register than what’s become typical--think of a gravely rasp a little lower than what Gaahl typically uses--but they scratch an itch I didn’t even know I had. They tend to sound fervent, somewhere between a stern proclamation and a growl, but no less ferocious.

Sometimes I get a little nervous when I see a black metal album with eight or more tracks all around the seven- to eight-minute mark, because that often signals an album that sounds a lot longer than it actually is. Misþyrming avoids this trap by virtue of pure fury, and adding the occasional interlude, like “Hælið”, that stand on their own musically, giving a break into the tension without letting the listener mentally wander off.

If you were inclined to let this one slip by as just another Icelandic release destined to get lost somewhere in the North Atlantic of your record collection, you need to fight off that urge. This is an album worth spreading the news about, even if typing the song names involve a lot of copying and pasting.

Sinmara / Misþyrming - Ivory Stone / Hof

By Kaptain Carbon. I wonder if we'll ever look back through history and mark the mid 2010’s with an Icelandic black metal explosion. I wonder if there are even enough bands or albums to constitute said explosion, or if anyone will remember how it felt

By Kaptain Carbon.

I wonder if we'll ever look back through history and mark the mid 2010’s with an Icelandic black metal explosion. I wonder if there are even enough bands or albums to constitute said explosion, or if anyone will remember how it felt when there were so many bands coming out of one small island country known for mythical creatures. The year 2015 seems so very long ago, which was the release year of Misþyrming’s Söngvar elds og óreiðu, and Sinmara’s 2014 release Aphotic Womb seems even further away.

The history of Iceland’s black metal scene can be traced further back, but right around 2014/2015 is when things started to get crazy with blog attention and magazine articles. At this moment, Zhrine, Wormlust, Svartidauði, Naðra, Mannveira, and a handful of other bands all share one blistering hotbed of hate and dejection and in a couple of years, perhaps we can discuss these bands without seeing them as some cultural anomaly. Until then it is almost impossible to discuss one without at least mentioning the others.

Artwork by Joseph Deegan.

Ivory Stone / Hof is a stopgap, break, or harbinger for two bands who have been over a year without a record. Misþyrming’s debut was released 2 years ago this month with Sinmara’s debut even earlier. It is getting to the point when we will be expecting new material from both artists and the very short Ivory Stone / Hof split seems to be doing just that, as it presents two tracks that not only reignite interest in both bands but perhaps give horrid visions for the future. Splits are a fantastic, low stakes chance for a band to renew their interest in the world or chill the air with dark portents.

Perhaps the more surprising of the two is the absolute barbaric track from Sinmara. As if recorded inside a dust tornado, the rhythm and instrumentation for "Ivory Stone" is far more than expected since their debut. This track of surprise continues well into the song with changes in instrumentation and ascending guitar lines that feel like spiral staircases into maddening towers. While Sinmara was one of the first bands out of Iceland's black metal metal scene that I discovered, but soon forgot, "Ivory Stone" reunites me and perhaps others with that same calculated aggression that fueled their debut.

Misþyrming is perhaps the most well known or recognizable names from the whole of Icelandic black metal scene for nothing else than people do not know how to spell their name without copy/paste. If you had forgotten how aggressive Söngvar elds og óreiðu was, allow your memory to be jogged with the raw punch of "Hof". Perhaps even more than their previous works, this band steps on the throat of listeners leading to something that is tyrannical and obliterating in its very nature. "Hof" adds to its off putting position with cryptic spoken word segments which break the assault of the music that does not come gentle. If anyone has forgotten what this band introduced themselves as, allow this to be a gentle reminder in the form of a closed fist.

Splits are a fantastic way of sampling music but also projecting directions for bands. If I were to give a summation of the Ivory Stone / Hof split, it would be business as usual in Iceland with the potential for some catastrophic disasters in the future. The pairing of these two seems like a match made in anywhere but heaven.

Kaptain Carbon moderates Reddit's r/metal as well as writes reviews for lesser known black, death, and doom metal for Tape Wyrm as well as Dungeon Synth, Tabletop, and Movie Reviews for Hollywood Metal.

Misþyrming - Söngvar elds og óreiðu

By Calen Henry. Misþyrming (Misthyrming) was apparently a one-man black metal project in Iceland for a few years before mustering members and releasing a full length album.

By Calen Henry.


Misþyrming (Misthyrming) was apparently a one-man black metal project in Iceland for a few years before mustering members and releasing a full length album. That album, Söngvar elds og óreiðu suddenly appeared as the most popular album under “black metal” on Bandcamp with little buzz surrounding it and it’s an early album of the year contender.

The band mixes a core of swirling frostbitten black metal with almost every other conceivable style of black metal in a remarkably cohesive “kitchen sink” approach. Misthyrming swirl their way through icy blasts, slow thrashy riffs, weird Imperial Triumphant style bent riffs, ambient passages, jangly Polish style riffs reminiscent of Mgla and Nocel, and even a few dirge-like passages of blackened doom.

The skill with which they weave these styles into a cohesive whole is breathtaking. Almost every song shows a different style (sometimes two or three) but the result sounds like an album, not a collection of songs, or an assortment of (killer) riffs. Even with the stylistic acrobatics they've crafted an album that showcases the essence of great black metal. It’s adventurous without meandering, chaotic without being out of control. The result is a sound and feeling that early pioneers’ work can’t evoke for those of us who've grown accustomed to clarity and studio production quality.

There are a couple of points that hold the album back from pure brilliance. One or two of the riffs sound like “black metal chord voicings 101”, and the dynamically compressed mix sounds a bit claustrophobic. That may be intentional but a more open mix would have showcased the shapeshifting black metal assault and otherwise excellent production.

None of that really takes away from the overall quality of the album. There is no other band quite like Misthyrming; Söngvar elds og óreiðu is an extremely impressive debut that is especially worth checking out given that it’s Pay What You Want.