Rock 'n' Roll 'n' Blues Women!

Yes, destroy evil with evil," Amalie Bruun sings in her native Danish at the beginning of "Ulvinde," her latest song as Myrkur. In the accompanying music video, Bruun crawls through mossy roots and stumbles over frigid rock outcroppings. Occasionally, she spits up blood.

It's rough stuff, lyrically and visually, but Bruun's singing voice is beautiful. Where most metal singers either croon or belt, she rings. Her delivery, full of sustaining notes that subtly decay, is reminiscent of choral music — with all the ritualism, religiosity and awe it entails. Bruun can scream, too, and the shots of her engaged in a commanding, full-throated shriek entangle with shots of her bloody mouth. The juxtaposition of those forces — Bruun's two voices, distorted guitars and violent images — gives her work a vital charge.MORE