Heidrunar Myrkrunar is the label of one Kim Larsen, who is the mastermind behind neofolk project Of the Wand and the Moon. Consequently, I was expecting something in a similar vein and not the martial stirrings that I was presented with. Not that I am complaining - their debut is a more then adequate entrant into the martial industrial pantheon. The usual trappings such as orchestration, old wartime songs and sampled, manipulated speeches are present, but unlike the early work of leaders such as Der Blutharsch and Blood Axis, their work is imbued with an omnipresent feel of impending doom. Some spoken samples would seem to negate their apocalyptic tenor, but inexplicably fail to do so. (For example, a spoken sample on track seven –they don’t bother with titles- sounds like a comedian making farting noises to the amusement of his audience. You’d think this would sound ridiculous, and while it is less effective than many other tracks, it is not by much.) What impressed me the most was the sheer variety of the tracks. Apart from the usual elements listed above, there is everything form the power electronics of the opener, through to the church organ of track two, the dance beats of track twelve and what sounds like digitalised xylophone tones of track 3. Vocals – or at least a close approximation thereof –are used to great effect on a couple of tracks. The most negative aspect is the grotesque cover art – the horrendous lucid green cover looks like the regurgitated result of an absinthe bender the night before. If only the same effort was put into the cover art as the music! Still, if the most negative aspect of any release, is the cover art, than the artist is clearly on the right track. This is definitely an act to keep an eye on – provided that he keeps up this standard, this act should have no trouble becoming a household name and standing alongside the projects of a certain Michael Moynihan and Albin Julius. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.