Marduk/Memento Mori/Century Media Records/2023 Full Length Review

 

  Sweden's  Marduk  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  more  of  a  fast  and  aggressive  style  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a review  of  their  2023  album  "Memento  Mori"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Century  Media  Records.

  Synths  and  grave  digging  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  you  can  also  hear all  of t he  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.  Vocals  are mostly  grim  yet  high  pitched  sounding  black  emtal  screams  and  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  ad d in  a  lot  of  blast  beats.

  When  tremolo  picking  is  added  into  the  fast  riffing  they  also  give  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling  while  the  songs  also  add  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  bringing  in  more  of  an  aggressive,  old  school  and  chaotic  style  when  they  are  utilized  

  When  synths  make  their  return  they  are  done  in  more  of  an  apocalyptic  style  as  well  as  mixing  in  with  the  more  aggressive  and  brutal  side  of  the  music.  Angry  shouts  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also b e  heard  briefly  along  with  one  song  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  a  lot  of  the  faster  riffing  brings  back  the  aggression  of  their  90's  days.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death  and  funeral  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Marduk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Heart  Of  The  Funeral"  "Charlatan"  "Year  of  The  Maggot"  and  "As  We  Are".  8/5  out  of  10.

  www.MARDUK.nu 

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Marduk/Iron Dawn/Regain Records/2011 CD Review

  Marduk are a band from Sweden that has been around for over 20 years that has also had their previous album reviewed in this zine and are also one of the most well known black metal bands in the world and this is a review of their 2011 E.P "Iron Dawn" which was released by Regain Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to very fast drumming with a great amount of the blast beats, while the bass playing sounds very powerful with a lot of fast and brutal riffing.

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced very fast black metal riffs that have a thrash edge to them as well as some melodies, while the lead guitars are very chaotic and dark sounding black metal guitar leads.

Vocals range from high pitched black metal screams and angry and hateful sounding growls, while the lyrics cover war themes, as for the production it has a very heavy, powerful and professional sound to it.

In my opinion this is another good release from Marduk and this has some of their fastest and most brutal sounding riffs in years, if you are a fan of this band you will not be disappointed. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Drumbeats Of Death". RECOMMENDED BUY.

http://www.marduk.nu

Marduk/Wormwood/Regain Records 2009 CD REVIEW

  Marduk are a legendary Swedish black metal band that has been around since the early 90's, put out plenty of albums, tour the world and influenced many black metal bands and this is a review of their 2009 album "Wormwood".

Drums on this album range from some slow technical parts that turn into really fast brutal blast beats which seem to be the band's trademark, while the keyboards when they are utilized are very dark and psychedelic sounding and like most Marduk albums there are not many keyboards being used.

Bass playing on this album sounds really professional with some bass leads and the tone is real dark sounding but very easy to hear and you can also hear some parts that follow the rhythms that are coming out of the guitars with a very evil psychedelic feel.

Rythym guitars use many different styles of riffs ranging from slow, mid paced to fast, if you expect another fast Marduk album you wont find it, but there are still some very fast songs on this album and the music is still really heavy, as for the guitar solos when they are utilized they are very fast and melodic in the Swedish vein and they have a very professional sound.

Vocals are very dark sounding with some distorted growls that have a death metal edge and there are also a lot of high pitched black metal screams as well, while the lyrics are very dark and cover a very orthodox type of Satanism that does not overuse the devils name and anti christian themes which is a big change for this band since they are known for some very heavy Christ bashing music, and one song was written by M. Belfagor from the band Ofermod and he brought in his touch of the dark side of the Caballa known as the Qliphoth and you can tell the lyrics have some inspiration from Aliester Crowley.

Production on this album which was recorded at the Endarker Studio in the Year of the Lord 2009 sounds very professional for this kind of music and every instrument including the bass can be heard on this recording, some black metal elitists might be disappointed but fans of this band as well as other known Swedish bands will be happy.

In my opinion this is a good album from Marduk and while it is experimental it is nothing like the last album and it seems like they regained a lot of their heaviness and evil edge which was kind of missing on the last release, this is probably not as fast as Panzer Division Marduk and I don't think they want to make another album like that since they feel they would be repeating themselves. If you are a fan of Marduk from the early 2000's material you will not be disappointed and I would advise picking up this album as soon as you can.

Standout tracks include "Funeral Dawn" "Phosphorous Redeemer" an "Chorus Of Cracking Necks". RECOMMENDED BUY

Bandcamp (Osmose Productions)

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