Band:	Mörk Gryning
Album:	Fasornas Tid
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	December 13, 2024
A review by:	AndyMetalFreak

01. Intro
02. The Seer
03. Tornet
04. Fasornas Tid
05. Before The Crows Have Their Feast
06. Savage Messiah
07. An Ancient Ancestor Of The Autumn Moon
08. Black Angel
09. Barren Paths
10. The Serpent's Kiss
11. Det Svarta
12. Age Of Fire

Fasornas Tid is Swedish for 'Time Of Phases', and this has been a fine phase for Mörk Gryning since returning to the Swedish black metal scene.

Mörk Gryning emerged at the height of the second wave in 1993, and during this time made a name for themselves while releasing 5 full-length albums, with their 1995 full-length debut Then År Har Gått... being a particular highlight. However, they entered a hiatus between 2005 and 2016 before making a solid comeback in 2020 with Hinsides Vrede. Four years later, they're aiming to maintain the momentum with their seventh album, Fasornas Tid.

The theme behind Fasornas Tid focuses on a dystopian journey through the abyss of the human psyche, reflecting on inner turmoil, self-destructive hunger, and conflicts with good and evil. The music also reflects these themes; much like their previous releases, Fasornas Tid follows the ferocious 90s Swedish meloblack approach, with elements of early melodeath as opposed to their trve Norwegian counterparts. Not only does the album capture the glorious unholy spirit of 90s Scandinavian black metal, but offers an outstanding modern refined production. You'd expect some of the band's authenticity to be lost due to this modern sound, but instead the mixing works wonders for the intense, apocalyptic soundscapes here.

The rhythm section is driven mostly in a typical ferocious manner by the rapid bass of Goth Gorgon and C-G's drum work, the latter consisting of thundering toms and furious blast beats. The guitar duo Draakh Kimera and Stefan Lundgren pull off a fine display of melodic tremolos and wailing leads, while short acoustic passages, such as the instrumental interlude "Barren Paths", break up the intensity and ferocity. Aeon regularly provides dark, enchanting keyboard melodies, while epic symphonic elements are featured behind the instrumentation to create an even more dynamic soundscape. Draakh Kimera pulls off another bone-chilling performance through his savage demonic shrieks, with Stefan Lundgren, Goth Gorgon, and Aeon all providing additional clean backing vocals delivering epic harmonies. However, there are not 4 but 5 vocalists featured in total, as guest performer C of Avslut also appears on the songs "Tornet" and "An Ancient Ancestor Of The Autumn Moon".

Hinsides Vrede not only sustains the remarkable form from their previous offering, but may well have surpassed its quality. Mörk Gryning have crafted 12 high-quality classic meloblack songs that unleash a relentless, savage attack on any listener who stumbles across it. Each song keeps up a high level of intensity and ferocity while containing an abundance of hooks that'll keep any fan of the melodic side of black metal satisfied, especially those wishing to reminisce on the classic Swedish scene but rendered with a great modern sound.