THE FIRST OFFERING FROM Udåd, COURTESY OF MORK'S THOMAS ERIKSEN. PRIMITIVE, RAW & REAL NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL.

Udåd is the new act from Thomas Eriksen of current Norwegian black metal masters, Mork. As his main band evolves ever further into complex & elaborately textured moods & atmospheres & after reflecting back on Mork’s first album ‘Isebakke’ as the framework for this new vessel in the pursuit of pure black metal grimness, Eriksen delved deeply into this stream of influence to create somewhat of an antithesis to current day Mork, with something utterly “nekro” in its motivations & execution. An unpretentious exploration of the brutal reality of death & the lack of meaning in life.

With a completely stripped down & cold approach, bringing to mind the spellbinding, almost dungeon-like recording sounds from the burgeoning early 1990’s black metal movement, this is an exploration of absolute & relentless darkness, for a sparse & primitive trip through the mental abyss of raw feeling. Influence for this self-titled opus also came from outside of the sphere of metal, having been introduced to the works of cinematographer Jørg Buttgereit, more specifically “Der Todesking”, with its art based on the raw & ugly truths that humanity bares within its flesh. Udåd is therefore Eriksen’s “Der Todesking”.

Performances & engineering duties were conducted by Eriksen himself at Atomen Studios in Halden, Norway, with mastering carried out by Jack Control at Enormous Door (Darkthrone, Mork).