ABOUT
On Final gift:
Overall, mid tempo, very heavy thrash metal with a gruff vocal style, superb guitar work and some thunderous rhythms to make you reach for the aspirin.
www.metalgodstv.com
Skurk is a thrash metal band from Akureyri, Iceland, formed in 1990. The name Skurk is an old northern word, and stands for all kinds of noise and fuss or hooligan and ribaldry. The music is inspired by Kreator, Metallica, Sacred Reich, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Helloween, Nuclear Assault, Wrathchild America and Black Sabbath to name some of the guys’ most favorite bands then and now.
Skurk toured Iceland ferociously for three years - through blizzard and snow, and finally bought a studio. The next step was to make an album, which was distributed mostly amongst friends and family.
Subsequently the band broke up, and in the coming years some of the members found themselves in various bands such as Changer and Shiva while others pursued other interests and work careers.
Skurk reunited in 2011 to play a special concert with viking band
Skálmöld, teamed up with drummer Þorvaldur Helgason (Gruesome Glory, Malignant Mist) the concert was a total success, and the band decided to continue rehearsing. Skurk later shared the stage with great artists as Legend, L’esprit Du Clan, Hangmans Chair, Momentum, and Eiríkur Hauksson (Eric Hawk) from Artch, amongst others. With revitalised spark, new music started to brew, and in 2013 Skurk went to studio GFG to record a new album and hired non other than Kristján Heiðarsson (Changer, Dark Harvest, Vetur) to play the drums. Since the original album was released in such limited edition, the band members decided to record their favorite tracks from the early days, along with one new track. In june 2014, Skurk released their new album, “Final Gift”, with help from Inconsistency Records.
Skurk is currently working on a new album with choir, sinfony and metal mixed together, with scheduled release in march, 2017.
On Blóðbragð:
An absolute masterpiece of studied and practised accomplishment. One of those rare gems, filled with so much magic and mystery and so visually evocative, it almost speaks its own language of fantastical soundscapes and vision quests. Versatile to an awe-inspiring level. Intelligently, creatively constructed and composed. Performed with the utmost skill and professionalism. Imaginative synthesis, at its best. A truly magnificent album.
-Jenny Tate