Norwegian Black Metal titan, Mork, return with their latest full-length, the nine-track Monolitt, and as the title suggests, it is a crushing, unrelenting and colossal beast of an album. Mork describe it as “A stark monument to the unrelenting brutality of reality, the monolith looms above us, immovable, indifferent, eternal. Its crushing presence bears down on the spirit, suffocating hope and testing the limits of endurance. It is an experience carved in stone, unyielding.”
Mork – Monolitt
Release Date: 19 June 2026
Words: Jools Green
Created and masterminded by Thomas Eriksen in 2004, Mork has musically gone from strength to strength with each successive release. I think this is largely because each album is guaranteed to be a little different, with Thomas constantly aiming to push his boundaries and capabilities ever further.
For me, Monolitt encapsulates all that I love about Norwegian Black Metal and more besides. This is a crushing meld of icy Black Metal that is satisfyingly brutal but with so much more woven into the construct.
Lyrically, it explores themes of collapse, transformation, isolation, and destruction, from the crushing burden of existence to spectral wanderings through forgotten landscapes. “Monolitt explores the human condition through bleak introspection and grand imagery. Nature rages, giants awaken, faith crumbles, all in pursuit of experience beyond the limits of flesh and mind.”
Opening and getting off to a crushing start, Under Vekten Av Verdena, is a piece that grabs your attention and simultaneously ticks all the necessary boxes. Furious driving riffs, pounding drum rhythms, the vitriolic, powerfully punctuated vocals are melded with a hugely catchy melodic yet still punchy repeat.
I love how it slows but gets heavier, and more suffocatingly crushing towards the close. It is a piece that gets fists punching the air and hearts pounding, such is its exhilarating nature.
Next piece, Ødelagt picks up and forges forward with the closing crushing mood of the predecessor, but with extra weight and darkness. The vocal protraction, extended screams and machinegun riffing build atmosphere in dark, intense layers. This is not surprising given the inspiration behind it is the idea of “bleak introspection where defeat, disillusionment and self-destruction take centre stage.” The pace slows to a crushing crawl towards the close.
Torden, meaning frightened, looks at that moment when a storm hits and the ensuing chaos that follows. Musically, it captures that tempestuous atmosphere opening on the sound of a storm erupting, and the riffs drive through with unrelenting intensity. The direction switches dramatically, with the vocals tearing through alongside pounding drum rhythms.
I do like the harmony of the backing vocals that add to the drama that is unfolding as the riffs start to spiral around you. Then, midway, there is a quieter moment where the storm echoes through. That calm moment, the eye of the storm, rebuilds into spiralling lead work and a spoken element. With the intensity and drama of the piece always being a constant factor, it is a hugely powerful.
Keeping with the meteorological theme, the next piece, Skrømt, meaning thunder, unleashes another intense and chaos-filled drive with the vocals tearing out above the riffs. Again, it’s superbly atmospheric, and I do like the more melodic element, which manages to still deliver punch. Also, vocal protraction is dramatic and powerful.
Musically, Ferdamann seems to move towards you as it opens and crawls like a crushing, unstoppable juggernaut, developing more subtle melodic undertones to progress. But it always stays heavy and dark as hell with a superb haunting closing swathe. Vocally, is where it really excels. The use of vocal layering and slightly varied voices, along with superb protraction and expressive screams, elevates this piece into the realm of excellence.
Inn I En Annen Saere, translating as Into Another World, is haunting to open. Building in strong increments, holding onto the haunting atmosphere, the vocals are astoundingly unnerving as they arrive.
Across the piece, there is a superb balance of subtle melody and raw acidity, as well as excellent layering of the vocals. Some are set to sound a little more in the distance, which builds more depth into the piece.
The haunting cleans towards the close add to the otherworldly atmosphere, particularly as they become replaced by a deeper and more unnerving protracted vocalisation for the final build and ebb.
Another hugely compelling and engaging piece is Martyr. Opening on raw, sharp riffs melded with unearthly screams, once the vocals arrive, you also get a superb, subtly melodic but pitch-black repeat which has just enough subtle, slightly filthy, dark groove to grab your attention.
This element repeats and morphs across most of the duration of the track, expanding towards the close, becoming blacker and more dominating, but always catchy and engaging. Also needing a mention is the punchy phrasing of the vocal delivery, which is so impactful. I love this piece.
Penultimate offering Jutul is a complex driving beast of a track that switches slickly. When it drops back, it is dramatic and powerful, and once again, you get more superb clean backing vocals.
Final piece Utryddelse opens on a bleak noisescape. The ominous riffing that follows is woven with a spoken sound bite, and the opening vocal scream says it all. I love this piece. It is as ominously dark as it is engaging.
The leadwork bursts are haunting, both the harsh and clean backing vocals are anguish-filled, and the repeating riffs are unrelenting and unforgiving, fading out dramatically and returning to that opening noisescape. Altogether a superb closing piece.
Monolitt was recorded and performed primarily by Thomas Eriksen, with Asgeir Mickelson supplying drums, plus additional guest vocals coming from Øyvind Kaslegard of Svart Lotus. The minimalist but hugely dramatic cover image is by Norwegian artist Kjell Åge Melland.
Once again, Thomas delivers a unique, well-thought-out and brilliantly ambitious album.
Mork release Monolitt on 19 June 2026 via Peaceville Records. Pre-orders are available from mork.lnk.to/MONOLITT.
