Merrimack cover Depeche Mode's 'Wrong' • GRIMM Gent

MERRIMACK, the French black metal band active since 1994, release a new single through Season of Mist: a cover of “Wrong,” written by Martin L. Gore and originally recorded by Depeche Mode for their 2009 album Sounds of the Universe. The track runs 2:59 and is available exclusively on all digital platforms.

The cover has its roots in a long-standing personal devotion. Perversifier, who proposed the idea to his bandmates, describes Depeche Mode‘s post-1984 output as having “only grown better over the years,” and singles out “Wrong” as a song whose original “already carried more darkness than even Black Metal rarely reaches.” The instrumental was tracked during the The Acausal Mass sessions at Necromorbus Studio in 2012—committed to tape and then left there, shelved for over a decade before the band returned to record the vocals and see it through to release. The result, in Perversifier‘s words, is a recording that “highlights just how dark the original song already is”: the composition preserved note for note, with the band’s only contribution being, as he puts it, “the level of violence that Black Metal can bring, while staying completely faithful to every note of the original composition.” Where Gore‘s version channels the song’s obsessive self-negation through cold synth-pop, Merrimack‘s rendering strips away any distance the original’s arrangements might have offered.

Their most recent full-length, Of Grace and Gravity (2024), marked another step forward in a career defined by refusal to dilute—a record that drew on the same uncompromising aesthetic convictions the band have held since their founding, sharpened further by three decades of practice.

MERRIMACK‘s acclaimed latest offer, ‘Omegaphilia’ (2017) has raised a rejuvenated interest in the French black metal pioneers’ rare debut full-length. ‘Ashes of Purification’ was originally released limited to 1000 copies in the year 2002 and the rising demand is now being met by a one-time reprint of 500 CDs. MERRIMACK can be categorised as extreme traditionalists that are driven by a burning desire to hone their skills and striving to bring their art to perfection. The band was founded by guitarist Perversifier a.k.a. Amfortas in 1994 with a clear vision to keep the black metal flame burning as an act of aesthetic terrorism – as adamantly based in the underground as opposed to any attempts to co-opt, commercialise or turn the style into a self-parody. Introduced by a number of demo recordings (‘Prologue’ – 1995, ‘Act 1’ – 1995, ‘Horns Defeat Thorns’ – 2001) and split releases (with Hirilorn in 1998 and Sargeist in 2002), the French gained respect in the scene by remaining true to their words.

Although MERRIMACK decided to reach out to a larger audience with the release of their first full-length ‘Ashes of Purification’, the Parisians did not sever their roots with the underground at any time. With the following albums, ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ (2006) and ‘Grey Rigorism’ (2009), MERRIMACK closed ranks with the most influential, active, and authentic acts of the French black metal scene. Their classic combination of harsh sound with epic structures appealed to critics and fans alike and put the band on their celebrated first US tour with MARDUK and NACHTMYSTIUM in 2009.

After recording ‘The Acausal Mass’ (2012) in the legendary Necromorbus Studio (WATAIN, DESTRÖYER 666) again, MERRIMACK embarked on a European tour with Norwegian icons MAYHEM and accepted invitations to prestigious festivals such as Hellfest in their native France, Germany’s Party-San Open Air and Summer Breeze as well as Montreal’s Messe des Morts in Canada. With their latest album, ‘Omegaphilia‘, MERRIMACK were breathing fresh life into an exhausted genre. While ignoring epithets such as progressive, post-, and avant-garde, the French focused on razor-sharp songwriting, captivating melodies, and close to perfect arrangements.