Mörk Gryning’s Hinsides Vrede: black metal prodigies return to the fiery fray after 15 years

It’s hard to say what was most puzzling about Mörk Gryning’s 1995 debut Tusen År Har Gått: that it was the brilliant Swedish answer to Norwegian symphonic black metal or that its two creators were only 15 and 19 years old respectively. Whatever it was, a quarter of a century, five more albums and a 15-year hiatus later, they’ve picked up almost exactly where they left off, albeit with a slicker edge. There may be some surprising clean choir parts and few folkish acoustic interludes, but while Hinsides Vrede is surprisingly luminous in tone, those still piercing yet classy staccato riffs blazing through the northern sky will satisfy even the most jaded fan of classic Swedish black metal.