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Marduk


Requiem

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Edited to include 'Viktoria' and a reassessment of 'Serpent Sermon'.

Can't believe there's no Marduk thread. 

Marduk are without doubt one of the great miracles of black metal. They've lasted over 25 years and are still producing incredible albums. They have a style, but are not locked down so much that they get repetitive. This band has become one of my favourites from any genre. Would love to hear some opinions of this infernal Swedish institution. 

Requiem's Ranking of Marduk's Albums from Infantry Stooge to Panzer Division Commander:

14. Plague Angel (2004)

Firstly, I should point out that there is not a Marduk album that I dislike. I like them all to a fairly significant extent. It might seem weird to have 'Plague Angel' as my least favourite Marduk album given all the carry-on it seems to receive, but the first album with Mortuus feels to me like they're adjusting to each other's styles whilst tripping over itself to be death-focused and dark. While I do like it, I tend to find it a little too dense and one dimensional, especially after the absolutely cracking 'World Funeral'. The first three songs are very good, and there are moments here, but I just don't reach for this very often. Cover is pretty good. 

13. Rom 5:12 (2007) 

This is another album that I find overrated, but this has a lot more chops than 'Plague Angel'. Like that album, it's sonically dense and extreme, but a lot of the darkness and mood feels generic to me. They're so bogged down in death and decay that I don't feel the listening experience has anywhere to go. Again, I like it but I don't love it. This got stunning reviews everywhere, but I don't think it quite lives up to the hype. 'Accuser/Opposer' is a downright great song with AA Nemtheanga from Primordial guesting, and 'Womb of Perishableness' is also really good. Cover is ok but again, random death imagery is random. There are way too many skeletons here considering 'Plague Angel' was all about skeletons too. 

12. Dark Endless (1992)

The debut is a lot more fun than the two albums listed above. Even though this is very death metal heavy, there's a great vibe here. It's an enjoyable listen. Features one-off vocalist Andreas Axelsson who I can't say would be missed, but he does a decent job. Very early this is, at 1992. Original cover is a bit silly and very death metal. The re-release cover has a bit more dignity. 

11. La Grande Danse Macabre (2001)

This is a solid album. The remastered version, which I have, sounds brilliant - the guitar tone is razor sharp. The songs have some great moments for sure, and 'Summer's End' is a brilliant little oddity. Legion's voice is a little bit repetitive and the lyrics are quite daft, for some reason, especially when compared with the albums before and after it. It almost feels like it was a bit rushed because there aren't as many melodies going on. There's a lot of riffage that plods a bit. Morgan is definitely not pushing boundaries, that's for sure. I think the worst thing about this album is that it sits awkwardly between two classics and I overlooked it for years. I need to give it more time. 

10. Wormwood (2009)

I wrote this off when it first came out, thinking it was like 'Plague Angel' et al, but I was wrong. This is a really great album. 'Funeral Dawn' is the track I think of here, and it embodies the creativity that would later make Frontschwein their masterpiece. Mortuus' voice is stunning. Again, though, there is some less than perfect moments, but overall this gives you a good dose of Marduk providing you're not looking for any great philosophy or history lesson. Pretty cool cover. Interesting name too. 

9. Heaven Shall Burn When We Are Gathered (1996)

This was the last of the old albums that I bought, and I’m still thanking the label for putting out a remastered version with an infinitely better album cover than the original. The songs are intense and dark, yet melodic. Legion’s first album with the band and hail that great man. Dodgy original cover, awesome re-release cover.  

8. Serpent Sermon (2012)

As promised, I'm re-writing this album's summary because I grossly undervalued it initially. This album is actually highly engaging and pretty cutting-edge. The title track is one of their catchiest onslaughts, while the last track proper, 'World of Blades' is genuinely creepy and disturbing with that brilliant riff. There's some authentic darkness here. Having the digipac edition of this is well worth it for the bonus song 'Coram Satanie' which really should have been on the main album. Some of the tracks blend into each other a bit, and I'm not sure what a serpent sermon really is, but I've signed my soul over to the wonderful booklet, lyrics and performances, especially Mortuus. Album art is pretty good. Huge booklet, it's over 40 pages of death-imagery. 

7. Viktoria (2018)

Scandalous when you think how great this album could have been. It’s come off the back of Marduk’s greatest release in ‘Frontschwein’, but what we have here are 33 thin minutes of underwhelming black metal written by a bored songwriter. Mortuus does his best, but bland riffs rule the day.  It’s good, but.... meh. Cool cover and booklet. I provide an in-depth account of it in the thread below. 

6. Those of the Unlight (1993)

This is a very good album. The melodies here are so infectious and the vocals from Joakim are next level. He just spits them out like an anguished corpse. 'Wolves' is a masterpiece black metal song - one of the best of all time. B-War's first album on bass and he nails it. This has that Swedish melodic sensibility running through it with large dashings of true darkness. An exciting album. Amazing album cover. 

5. Nightwing (1998)

We're hitting greatness. Whether it's the fast paced first half or the slower second half that focuses on Vlad the Impaler (and forms the 'Blood' part of their "Blood, Fire, Death" trilogy in honour of Bathory), this album is quality all the way through. There is so much to offer fans with this album. The history songs are brilliant and so much more interesting than standard 'death imagery'. Pretty good album cover of a Carpathian looking night-horror.  

4. Opus Nocturne (1994)

Now we're talking. This is the first of the four albums of Marduk's that I consider to be classics. The atmosphere and style here are brilliant, with Joakim dropping drum duties to focus purely on vocals. He has a rad voice, that's for sure. The riff in the title track stays with me for days afterwards. I could do with a few more melodies, to be honest, but overall this album has a great attitude and aura. Album cover is not really my thing, but it's interesting to look at. Again, the re-mastered version is a great cover. 

3. Panzer Division Marduk (1999)

Speaking of exciting. Panzer Division Marduk cannot be overrated if you ask me. From the World War II style soundbites to the insane speed that is also oddly catchy, this is a masterpiece. The original artwork of the tank barrel pointing right out at the viewer still haunts me. When Marduk do WWII they are untouchable in my opinion, and I think they are much more authentic and menacing than when they're just being naughty satanists. 

2. World Funeral (2003)

This could surprise a lot of people, but to me this album slays Plague Angel and the follow-ups. This is Legion's last album and he is on fire. Listen to his delivery in 'With Satan and Victorious Weapons' (incredible title by the way). Listen to the riffs and Legion's voice in 'Bleached Bones'. Listen to that crazy riff in 'Night of the Long Knives'. I think this album is far more menacing than almost all of their other albums, not due to speed or anything like that, but the aura. The change of pace is brilliant and 'Blackcrowned' that ends the album in a funeral march is perfect. Evocative red album cover and a great booklet. 

1. Frontschwein (2015)

Here it is. Not just Marduk's best album, but one of modern metal's true classics. The WWII themes are back, and Mortuus has stepped up to reveal himself as the best black metal vocalist in the world right now. They are also at their most creative. Check out that marching beat in '503' where Mortuus yells out the names of the towns that are being rolled by the Germans, or the power of 'Nebelwerfer'. Spine-tingling. 'Thousandfold Death', the final metal song, is stupendous and beyond comprehension. The bonus track, 'Warschau III' is so good it hurts with its martial sound effects, wailing sirens and marching boots. It's straight out of Berlin 1939. Fitting album cover that is such a breath of fresh air from the generic darkness of the recent past. 

 

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10 hours ago, Requiem said:

2. World Funeral (2003)

This could surprise a lot of people, but to me this album slays Plague Angel and the follow-ups. This is Legion's last album and he is on fire. Listen to his delivery in 'With Satan and Victorious Weapons' (incredible title by the way). Listen to the riffs and Legion's voice in 'Bleached Bones'. Listen to that crazy riff in 'Night of the Long Knives'. I think this album is far more menacing than almost all of their other albums, not due to speed or anything like that, but the aura. The change of pace is brilliant and 'Blackcrowned' that ends the album in a funeral march is perfect. Evocative red album cover and a great booklet. 

I loved this album, but do not listen to it as much as I should (it is the only of their albums that I own).  I think what made it so enjoyable for me was its blend of aggressive speed and heavy, deliberate, and slow passages.  You forgot to mention "To the Death's Head True" - one of their best songs (in my opinion).

Despite this, I agree that Frontschwein was their best work.  So many amazing riffs, and simply phenomenal vocals.

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10 hours ago, Balor said:

I loved this album, but do not listen to it as much as I should (it is the only of their albums that I own).  I think what made it so enjoyable for me was its blend of aggressive speed and heavy, deliberate, and slow passages.  You forgot to mention "To the Death's Head True" - one of their best songs (in my opinion).

Despite this, I agree that Frontschwein was their best work.  So many amazing riffs, and simply phenomenal vocals.

Agree totally regarding ‘To the Death’s Head True’. All those slow tracks are just crushing. It’s a combination of the songwriting and the tone of the guitars. Morgan just nailed the sound.

Frontschwein is just next level, isn’t it.

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11 hours ago, Requiem said:

Agree totally regarding ‘To the Death’s Head True’. All those slow tracks are just crushing. It’s a combination of the songwriting and the tone of the guitars. Morgan just nailed the sound.

Frontschwein is just next level, isn’t it.

Definitely.  While I really like the riffs on Frontschwein, I think that the vocals are what make it so good.  The singer has a phenomenal voice - perfectly suited for both fast and slow songs.

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5 hours ago, Balor said:

Definitely.  While I really like the riffs on Frontschwein, I think that the vocals are what make it so good.  The singer has a phenomenal voice - perfectly suited for both fast and slow songs.

It's a phenomenal release. As I'm (clearly) in the middle of a Marduk obsession I'm doing a lot of listening, and I'm trying to figure out why a lot of the albums from 2004-2012 don't seem to have many riffs at all that I can get behind, yet 'Frontschwein' is absolutely full of them.

I would argue that while 'Plague Angel' through to 'Serpent Sermon' are the most suffocatingly extreme releases (and some people love this about those albums) they have ever put out, they are strangely devoid of memorable moments and hooks. I guess it's personal taste, firstly, but also that phenomenon bands have of just missing the mark repeatedly until they suddenly have a spark of creativity. Although in a different genre, Moonspell showed this on '1755'. 

For me, 'Frontschwein' contains a lot of elements that they are suddenly doing better.

1. Songwriting, primarily. Unlike previous releases, there is a huge degree of quality control going on. Many riffs lift the hairs on the back of my neck etc. 

2. Mortuus' voice with the choked off yell at the end of some lines. He's brought that technique in and it's amazing. I've mentioned it before and I'll probably mention it again. 

3. The experimentation and creativity on tracks like 'Blond Beast' and '503', partly down to Fredrik Widigs' drum patterns. Also things like adding the tambourine(?) beat in '503'. When that comes in I can't believe what a stroke of genius it is. There's nothing comparable in the 2004-2012 material really, perhaps apart from 'Funeral Dawn' on 'Wormwood'. 

4. A focus, and this is really important for Marduk. I think when Morgan has a theme that he's working with he is just that more inspired. Again, this is just personal taste and only my opinion, but when he's writing for an album about standard black metal motifs the riffs come out fairly unispired and standard. I've been pumping those albums lately and I can't believe how boring many of the riffs are. Then they amp up the fuzz, drop Mortuus' vocals in the mix to make it sound more extreme, and the songmanship is running short. When they have a theme, like WWII or Vlad Dracul, things just pop and spark with creativity. The lyrics fall in line, and suddenly you have a 'Frontschwein' or a 'Panzer Division Marduk'. 

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18 hours ago, Requiem said:

It's a phenomenal release. As I'm (clearly) in the middle of a Marduk obsession I'm doing a lot of listening, and I'm trying to figure out why a lot of the albums from 2004-2012 don't seem to have many riffs at all that I can get behind, yet 'Frontschwein' is absolutely full of them.

I would argue that while 'Plague Angel' through to 'Serpent Sermon' are the most suffocatingly extreme releases (and some people love this about those albums) they have ever put out, they are strangely devoid of memorable moments and hooks. I guess it's personal taste, firstly, but also that phenomenon bands have of just missing the mark repeatedly until they suddenly have a spark of creativity. Although in a different genre, Moonspell showed this on '1755'. 

For me, 'Frontschwein' contains a lot of elements that they are suddenly doing better.

1. Songwriting, primarily. Unlike previous releases, there is a huge degree of quality control going on. Many riffs lift the hairs on the back of my neck etc. 

2. Mortuus' voice with the choked off yell at the end of some lines. He's brought that technique in and it's amazing. I've mentioned it before and I'll probably mention it again. 

3. The experimentation and creativity on tracks like 'Blond Beast' and '503', partly down to Fredrik Widigs' drum patterns. Also things like adding the tambourine(?) beat in '503'. When that comes in I can't believe what a stroke of genius it is. There's nothing comparable in the 2004-2012 material really, perhaps apart from 'Funeral Dawn' on 'Wormwood'. 

4. A focus, and this is really important for Marduk. I think when Morgan has a theme that he's working with he is just that more inspired. Again, this is just personal taste and only my opinion, but when he's writing for an album about standard black metal motifs the riffs come out fairly unispired and standard. I've been pumping those albums lately and I can't believe how boring many of the riffs are. Then they amp up the fuzz, drop Mortuus' vocals in the mix to make it sound more extreme, and the songmanship is running short. When they have a theme, like WWII or Vlad Dracul, things just pop and spark with creativity. The lyrics fall in line, and suddenly you have a 'Frontschwein' or a 'Panzer Division Marduk'. 

I think that their older albums lacked the ability to sustain interest (at least for me).  They would have a few songs that were of particular interest, but would then degenerate into typical and non-evocative bm riffing.  They needed a stronger, more unified vision.  You identified their thematic interests as the source of their more complete albums, and I think that that is correct.  "Frontschwien" (and "World Funeral") both presented shifting sound textures and speeds that helped to break up the constant aggressive playing, and thereby were able to grab and hold the attention of the viewer to a far greater extent.  They also kept the listener in a state of anticipation - constantly on edge, on the lookout for some new, as of yet unheard sound.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Requiem's Assessment of 'Viktoria' (2018)

I've now been in possession of 'Viktoria' for a week or so and feel able to make an informed comment on it. I delayed listening to the album until I had the CD version in my hands. I've since purchased the album on itunes as well. 

My first impression was of an album that is much more stripped back, straightforward and undercooked compared with the immortal 'Frontschwein' from 2015. At 33 minutes, 'Viktoria' is extremely short for a modern day full-length, coming in a massive 20 minutes shorter than 'Frontschwein'. Aurally, the other immediate difference is that while 'Frontschwein' contains a lot of layering, textures, and sounds like a lot of work went into it, 'Viktoria' sounds like it could have been knocked out over a long-weekend. 

This is not necessarily a bad thing. It is bad when comparing it to 'Frontschwein', which is an inevitable thing to do, but the album itself stands up pretty well. Let's see what we have here. 

The songs are generally quite straight forward, although, strangely, the more I listened to it the more I realised there was quite a bit of complexity going on nevertheless, with some of the arrangements at least. There is quite a lot of straight riffing, and the sound is very stripped back. The songs are also fairly punchy and easy to listen to. True Belief called this their "black album", and while I'm not entirely sure about that, he's in the right ball-park. This could be seen as a fairly accessible black metal album for curious children. It's not a very challenging listen. 

Some of the guitar riffs sound like they could be from one of the recent Satyricon albums, and I wonder if Morgan has taken any influence from Satyr, especially on the slow stuff where the guitar alone is the focal point. It's a good sounding guitar, but I can't escape the conclusion that some of the riffs simply aren't as spine-chilling as they could be. I think if you're going to take 3 years to produce a 33 minute album (11 minutes of songwriting per year!) you need to have solid gold material, right? I'm not sure we have this here. 

I'm going to point to the two slowest songs as culprits. 'Tiger 1' has nearly the exact same riff as '503' from 'Fronstschwein', except where that song wins through the off-kilter tambourine led march and creative chorus, 'Tiger 1' just sits there as a guitar based plodder with some fast moments. It's a pretty shoddy rip-off to be honest. Listen to 'Tiger 1' and '503' side-by-side and you be the judge.

The final track 'Silent Night' is of a similar vein. It's slow, and doesn't do a whole lot to generate atmosphere, especially as an album closer. It's just too straight-forward. I need some more metaphorical bells and whistles please if a track is just going to plod. Marduk are the masters of slow black metal tracks. Look at '503', 'Bleached Bones', 'Funeral Dawn' etc. None of the songs here come remotely close to those masterpieces. Well, 'Tiger 1' comes close to '503' but only due to the exact same riff being used. 

Vocally, Mortuus is doing his best, although there is less experimentation. Sadly, he doesn't do that final syllable drop off strangled gargle. He does his best, though, to jazz up the songs over Morgan's subdued riffage. 

Faster tracks like 'June 44' and 'The Devil's Song' are just great though. While Mortuus doesn't experiment like he does on 'Frontschwein', he does do a few different things with his voice, like 'growling' along with the riff for a few seconds in 'June 44'. It sounds amazing. My favourite track would have to be the opener 'Werwolf', with the air raid siren and children's chorus sounding exciting and creative. I wish there was a bit more of that sort of experimentation elsewhere on the album. Getting those kids to yell 'Werwolf' in the chorus is spectacular in my opinion. 

The theme is firmly World War II. Through studying the lyrics and using the internet I've been able to conclude that 'Narva' is about the Battle of Narva, a town in Estonia, between the Germans and Russians, while 'Silent Night' is about a German unit that committed war-crimes against American and Belgian soldiers and civilians (very interesting story actually with their leader serving time then working for Porsche post-war before being murdered in the 70s), while 'Equestrian Bloodlust' is about the 8th SS Cavalry Division 'Florian Geyer' (named after a medieval German peasant-revolt leader). 

Album art is great - the cover looks creepy and tasteful. The booklet is plain black with lyrics and an admittedly amazing band photo in black and white in the double page spread. It was created by the same company that put the 'Frontschwein' package together. And like the songs, it's stripped back and basic by comparison. 

Overall, I do really like this album. But it's also pretty disappointing. True Belief thinks that they just recorded the only 9 tracks that they had, and I can't escape this feeling too. I get the feeling Morgan hasn't put his heart and soul into this like he did the previous release. It's short, minimalist, unambitious. It's also great to listen to, despite all this, especially with alcohol in your veins. Too bad it needs a few beers though. 

Anyone have any thoughts on the album? 

 

 

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17 hours ago, Requiem said:

This could be seen as a fairly accessible black metal album for curious children. It's not a very challenging listen. 

This is the impression that I got after listen to the album.  It is sort of disappointing for me that a band that was always on the verge of controversy (never going over the edge, though) would domesticate themselves in the way that they had.

My biggest complaint, however, was the lack of inventive riffing.  "Frontschwein" changed the way that I looked at bm riffs (see "Doomsday Elite").  "Viktoria" was simply too uninteresting.

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On 7/3/2018 at 2:30 AM, Balor said:

This is the impression that I got after listen to the album.  It is sort of disappointing for me that a band that was always on the verge of controversy (never going over the edge, though) would domesticate themselves in the way that they had.

My biggest complaint, however, was the lack of inventive riffing.  "Frontschwein" changed the way that I looked at bm riffs (see "Doomsday Elite").  "Viktoria" was simply too uninteresting.

You're right about this. I was listening to 'Viktoria' again today while I was mowing the lawn and it sort of makes me feel bad because, while it's pretty good, pretty good was less than I was hoping for.

Some of those riffs... man, Morgan's quality control is low low low this time around. He does do this from time to time. 'La Grande Danse Macabre' is another album where this is the case. It's all ok, but sometimes he's the best in the world and I want to see him at level all the time. Pretty high expectations on my part, I admit, but I know he has it in him! 

 

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23 minutes ago, MacabreEternal said:

I haven’t heard “Frontschwein”, in my “journey” with Marduk I am only at “Opus Nocturne” really, but I will still give “Viktoria” a listen as part of my 2018 roundup at least.  

Props though @Requiem for doing some actual research into the record and the song subject matter.  Good review.

Thanks Macca. 

You’re at a sweet spot with your journey after ‘Those of the Unlight’ and ‘Opus Nocturne’. 

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4 hours ago, Requiem said:

You're right about this. I was listening to 'Viktoria' again today while I was mowing the lawn and it sort of makes me feel bad because, while it's pretty good, pretty good was less than I was hoping for.

Some of those riffs... man, Morgan's quality control is low low low this time around. He does do this from time to time. 'La Grande Danse Macabre' is another album where this is the case. It's all ok, but sometimes he's the best in the world and I want to see him at level all the time. Pretty high expectations on my part, I admit, but I know he has it in him! 

 

After "Frontschwein" high expectations are justified.  I think that it was an entertaining, but nevertheless unremarkable album.

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  • 9 months later...

hi, ive only heard 2 songs from this band so far, it randomly came up as a suggestion on youtube.

throne of rats and sodomized. i think the vocalist on throne of rats is very good, im really new to black metal and there's so much to check out yet from this style.

what i like at times is where the drum work sounds like a fast knocking on your door lol with cymbal crashes, it's like something out of a horror film where your running from something lol it's a very good effect yeah.

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7 hours ago, bartz said:

hi, ive only heard 2 songs from this band so far, it randomly came up as a suggestion on youtube.

throne of rats and sodomized. i think the vocalist on throne of rats is very good, im really new to black metal and there's so much to check out yet from this style.

what i like at times is where the drum work sounds like a fast knocking on your door lol with cymbal crashes, it's like something out of a horror film where your running from something lol it's a very good effect yeah.

If you want some blastbeating off then may I suggest ‘Panzer Division Marduk’, which is less ‘knocking on your door’ and more ‘levelling your ancestral village’. 

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thanks for that ill check that panzer division out on youtube in abit. 

it's strange i normally dont like black metal due to the images and their views but yet i kind of have abit of respect for the music work and the feeling that they are trying to create.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Recent listenings to 2012’s ‘Serpent Sermon’ have yielded interesting and exciting results.

As there aren’t many other posts here I’m going to write a bit about it and shift its position up 3 or 4 positions in my ranking. 

Want to know why? Stay tuned. 

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Marduk was always like a second tier band to me. I own all their albums but somehow i rarely listen to them. Especially the earlier stuff rarely get's any airplay in my home since it's mostly straight forward black metal with lot's of blasting. The first time i really started getting into them was around the time they released Rom 5:12 and everything that came after that. But anything before that period has trouble holding my attention.

I can't really say why cause their output is pretty consistent across the line, but somehow it never really managed to capture me. With these last few albums they finally took the time to slow down a little and show some more variation in their sound. Wormwood and Frontschwein being their most interesting releases so far. I might have to do a Marduk marathon sometime and listen to all albums chronologically but i'm no hurry to be honest.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think for me Marduk had a very mixed debut.  'Dark Endless' sat in the death metal seats with occasional (although not always fleeting) visits to the black metal section.  I find the debut more appealing than 'Those of the Unlight' although I have to accept the songwriting improved significantly by the time the second album dropped, even if they only truly hit their stride with 'Opus Nocturne'.  I have the first three records on CD now so am planning on taking them out with me in the car tomorrow on my drive to a meeting.

My only other real experience of their discography was the release that was my gateway into the band which was the 'Iron Dawn' EP which I love as much now as I did 8 years ago.  More recently I found 'Viktoria' to be an unexpected like with its blasting delivery.  I do plan on venturing further into their discography with 'Nightwing', 'Heaven Shall Burn...' and 'Panzer Division Marduk' all queued on my stream. 

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On 7/8/2019 at 2:20 AM, Benjaminc81 said:

Wormwood and Frontschwein being their most interesting releases so far. I might have to do a Marduk marathon sometime and listen to all albums chronologically but i'm no hurry to be honest.

I've ranted about the genius of 'Frontschwein' so much that the men in white coats will come and lock me up if I continue, but I have to say one more time that this album is a work of genius on so many levels and one of my favourite albums of all time. 

As for the chronological listening idea, that sounds really cool - I'd do that too if I had the time. Actually, the commute to and from work might be a good opportunity. The albums actually vary from each other quite a bit despite the guitar style of Morgan, which I guess you understand as well as anyone with their full catalogue in your collection (as it is in mine). 

On 7/18/2019 at 6:59 AM, MacabreEternal said:

I think for me Marduk had a very mixed debut.  'Dark Endless' sat in the death metal seats with occasional (although not always fleeting) visits to the black metal section.  I find the debut more appealing than 'Those of the Unlight' although I have to accept the songwriting improved significantly by the time the second album dropped, even if they only truly hit their stride with 'Opus Nocturne'.  I have the first three records on CD now so am planning on taking them out with me in the car tomorrow on my drive to a meeting.

My only other real experience of their discography was the release that was my gateway into the band which was the 'Iron Dawn' EP which I love as much now as I did 8 years ago.  More recently I found 'Viktoria' to be an unexpected like with its blasting delivery.  I do plan on venturing further into their discography with 'Nightwing', 'Heaven Shall Burn...' and 'Panzer Division Marduk' all queued on my stream. 

I agree about 'Dark Endless', but it's not really that surprising that a Swedish band would sound more death than black in 1992, although Morgan was in communication with Euronymous and was famously sent a piece of Dead's skull. I have an arrangement that if @True Belief dies I'll be getting a piece of his skull too. 

'Nightwing' is a great album due to its variety and epic scope - the vibe is great. I think you'll really like it. I find 'Heaven' to be pretty good and 'Panzer' is a kvlt release. 

Actually, the different singers really bring a different mood to each album. There's the pre-Legion era, the Legion era and the Mortuus era. All very differently vibed. As you can see from my ranking of their albums on the first page, I find a real mix of classics and no one vocalist's albums stand entirely above the others. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, I got around to 'Panzer Division Marduk' recently.  It is my least favourite of the releases thus far, being devoid of any lasting memorability beyond how fucking overwhelming it is.  I am not going to be one of those dicks on the internet who ridicule the band for playing mindless, morphed-into-one-big-riff Black metal because that's just insulting and not true.  You have to admire the ferocity of the approach and delivery of this but at the same time I can only let this carry the experience for so long.  It gets a kvlt status for the right reasons I suppose but it just gets old quickly and feels like it lasts longer than half an hour.

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12 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

So, I got around to 'Panzer Division Marduk' recently.  It is my least favourite of the releases thus far, being devoid of any lasting memorability beyond how fucking overwhelming it is.  I am not going to be one of those dicks on the internet who ridicule the band for playing mindless, morphed-into-one-big-riff Black metal because that's just insulting and not true.  You have to admire the ferocity of the approach and delivery of this but at the same time I can only let this carry the experience for so long.  It gets a kvlt status for the right reasons I suppose but it just gets old quickly and feels like it lasts longer than half an hour.

There are a few reasons why I like this album beyond the riffs, production and Legion's vocals (eg beyond the music). 

1. The addition of those WWII/film samples throughout the album just adds a sense of drama and atmosphere that works so well. The opening with those guys shouting "Fire... fire... fiiirrree!" is such a perfect way to begin an album like this, as if the music of Marduk is synonymous with shellfire. It's a stroke of brilliance. 

2. The attitude behind the project. Its dedication to its internal philosophy, namely unrelenting speed, lack of respect for life through the glorification of war, yet also a perverse celebration of destruction and the wild euphoric ejaculation of power make it something unique and special. It taps into a very primal element of the human psyche. 

3. Kvlt artwork on the original release. One of the all time great black metal album covers with the tank barrel pointing straight at the viewer. I have this on a shirt which I am currently wearing. The fold out inlay is always evocative and engaging. 

4. The title. 'Panzer Division Marduk' works on a number of levels. It incorporates the band's name, it suggests that the band is part of a German tank division: German because they're evil; tanks because they're destructive. It's also a poetic title that utilises the power of three and rolls off the tongue, ending with the band name. It's almost iambic pentameter. 

It's really the perfect modern black metal album. 

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I'm double-posting here, but hopefully it's ok because it's been a couple of months. 

I've tried editing my original post with my rankings but for some reason tonight it's not working, which is frustrating because I'm trying to move 'La Grande Danse Macabre' up the list. 

I've been listening to this album a fair bit lately after overlooking it for years, and for the first time it's really clicking with me and I'm loving it. It crushes like 'World Funeral', which came just after it, and it has that same style of riffage and expression, and Legion's vocalising is very similar, so I'm not sure what my problem has been all these years. 

One of the things that I'm picking up a lot is B-War's amazing bass playing. I don't know if it's the re-mastered version that I have, but the bass playing cuts through so clearly. 

I'm really enjoying this dark gem of an album. 

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