It’s been seven years since we last got new music from the great Ontario chamber folk ensemble Musk Ox. Inheritance is the long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s breakthrough Woodfall LP, and it doubles down on that album’s lived-in atmosphere. There’s nothing precisely metal happening on Inheritance, but it’s exactly the kind of instrumental folk/classical music that tends to get open-minded black metal fans excited. Musk Ox have opened for both Agalloch and Wardruna, which should give you a pretty good idea of where to file them. If you love slow-building, atmospheric, nature-evoking black metal, but don’t always actually want to hear the black metal parts, Inheritance is for you.
The project was originally started as an outlet for the solo guitar work of Nathanael Larochette, but the early additions of Raphael Weinroth-Browne on cello and Evan Runge on violin helped build out the Musk Ox sound as we now know it. On Inheritance, that sound is more fully realized than ever. That stands to reason; the opening track, “Inheritance (Part 1 – Premonition),” which we’re premiering today, is the first song Larochette, Weinroth-Browne, and Runge ever wrote in full collaboration as a trio. Listen to it now, and read Larochette’s statement on the gorgeous, haunting piece below.
“‘Inheritance (Part 1 – Premonition)’ is the opening song from our new album and the first song we’ve ever composed collaboratively as a trio. The piece came together over the course of a single day rehearsal with each musician offering their own melodic and structural contributions. After several hours we had unexpectedly laid the foundation for what would eventually become our third album Inheritance, though we were unaware of this at the time. Despite its sombre nature and the fact that this is one of our most atmospheric pieces, the song emerged from the studio shrouded in a foreboding fog of heaviness that even we weren’t expecting. The structure of classic progressive rock albums such as Relayer by Yes provided an inspiring framework for the pacing of Inheritance, but as the mixing stage neared completion it became clear that the songs had intentions of their own. While our previous single ‘Memoriam’ was meant to be the album’s ballad, the finished piece ended up much heavier and grander in scope. ‘Inheritance (Part 1 – Premonition)’ underwent a similar evolution. While we simply envisioned it as the brooding opener, the piece became a much more captivating and dramatic musical statement despite our initially modest vision for it. Such is the experience of composing and recording music and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Pre-order Inheritance before its July 9 release date here.
