Myrkur

Amalie Bruun, the Danish singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, model, and actor, channels her project Myrkur across a spectrum spanning black metal to traditional Scandinavian folk traditions. The Icelandic term for “darkness” supplied the project’s name, and its 2015 debut album M was produced by Ulver’s Garm with additional contributions from that band’s members plus horn and string ensembles. Bruun incorporated traditional folk instruments on 2017’s Mareridt, then pursued that path further on 2020’s Folkesange, whose story-songs featured vibrato-less vocals that summoned deep-rooted ancestral memories and spiritual associations. By 2023’s Spine, Bruun had folded pop structures around the Scandic folk and black metal foundations she had previously established.

Born in Copenhagen in 1985, Bruun is the daughter of musician and producer Michael Bruun and professional lyricist Mette Amtoft. She issued her first recordings in 2006, a self-titled collection of pop songs co-written with her father. Two years later she composed the motif “If You Give It Up” for the Danish edition of the documentary opera Paradise Hotel. In late 2009 she moved to New York City, joined the band Minks, and issued the solo track “Branches” in 2010. She departed Minks to join Ex Cops the following year. After releasing the 2012 solo single “Siren,” she concentrated on Ex Cops, which delivered the albums True Hallucinations (2013) and Daggers (2014). During the same period she worked as a fashion model and appeared in a Bleu de Chanel commercial directed by Martin Scorsese.

Early in 2014 Bruun adopted a fresh identity and shifted abruptly into black metal. Performing as Myrkur, she signed with Relapse Records and released a seven-track self-titled EP in September. Its distinctive production, enigmatic title, and intense sound attracted immediate press attention, which disclosed her identity during a Bandcamp interview in which she cited Norwegian black metal acts Darkthrone and Ulver together with classical composer Edvard Grieg as formative influences. Bruun handled production and performed every instrument except drums on that EP, which was followed by the demo single “Skađi” in December. Relapse issued Myrkur’s second album, M, in August 2015; recorded in Oslo, the set was co-produced with Ulver’s Kristoffer Rygg (aka Garm) and featured players from Mayhem and Nidingr along with additional horn and string musicians. Her first live appearance headlined the black stage at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival. On the anniversary of M’s release, Myrkur issued Mausoleum, a live recording captured at Oslo’s Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum with the Norwegian Girls Choir and former Ulver guitarist Håvard “Lemarchand” Jørgensen; the set presented acoustic reworkings of seven tracks from the prior album, a Bathory cover, and one new song. After developing new material the year before, Bruun entered the studio again in early 2017 with producer Randall Dunn, writing pieces that integrated folk instruments such as nyckelharpa, violin, mandola, folk drums, and kulning. The results appeared on the full-length Mareridt, issued by Relapse that September. Following her 2018 marriage to American death metal drummer Keith Abrami (Artificial Brain, Shredded), Bruun returned to Denmark and gave birth to a son in August 2019. She then recorded with Christopher Juul. Although earlier releases had already showcased her affinity for traditional folk music, Myrkur set metal aside entirely for the subsequent project. Released in March 2020, Folkesange presented a polished, expansive vision of pagan folk through ancient songs and original compositions rendered in period vernacular and performed on historical folk instruments. Spine, the 2023 album, marked another stylistic pivot as Bruun merged her established folk and metal elements with polished, comparatively direct pop songs. Randall Dunn returned as producer, and the album was tracked in Iceland at Sigur Rós’ studio.