ØXN uncage hard-hitting, atmospheric doom-folk with debut album ‘CYRM’
The band share their fantastic first offering.
Press: Megan Doherty
ØXN are one in an increasingly long line of bands to forego the commercial trappings and temptations, instead embodying their own kind of music with all the determination and battle-hardened vigour of ancient seafarers. For fans of intense, atmospheric groups like Zeal & Ardor, Heilung and Wardruna, ØXN promise doom-folk that is not only authentic but burning with moments of passion and eons-old human emotion.
CYRM is a prime example. Over just six tracks – chiefly covers, clocking in at three-quarters of an hour – ØXN weave mournful tales of misogyny, vengeance, longing, loss and persecution. The album delivers themes of oppression and war, set to sprawling instances of doom-inflected folk music. All six tracks are worth a listen, but without a doubt, its highlights come in The Trees They Do Grow High; detailing an arranged marriage that ends in loss, and The Feast – an original track by lead vocalist for the band, Katie Kim.
Farmer In The City, the last track on CYRM, also deserves a mention, spiralling into a narcotic fever dream somewhere between Led Zep’s When the Levee Breaks and the score of movies like Ari Aster’s Midsommar. ØXN don’t just write, record and produce music like most bands, they create ambience; entire soundscapes that do as much for the storytelling as the instruments themselves. A whole forest of noise and feeling shines through in each ode, resulting in an album as expressive as it is ambitious. It’s a tired-out cliché to say, I know, but this is one of those albums that’s an experience, not a humble record.
CYRM is most definitely not one for the masses. It won’t suit everyone’s tastes, a collection of doom-folk tracks which more often than not stretch long past the six-minute mark. But by its very nature, this music isn’t like anything else. It’s something new, experimental, and incredibly rich, blurring the line between music and druidic epic. I can only imagine what compositions like Cruel Mother and Farmer In the City would sound like in a live setting.
If you’re into doom metal, folk music, all things psychedelic, alternative and just plain weird, give this one a chance. ØXN’s CYRM is the soundtrack to a ritualistic, woodland horror in all the best ways, and deals with subjects more mainstream artists wouldn’t dare tread into. It’s not an album for the faint of heart, re-imagining folk arrangements and pre-existing songs with the unbridled sorrow of the female voice. Long may it continue.