Marduk – Rom 5:12
Posted by Mastema on April 25th, 2007
2007 is bound to become an extraordinary black metal year. After the releases of Watain, Naglfar and Mayhem, there’s this new Marduk album, and it shall be followed by Dimmu Borgir’s latest blasphemy (soon to be reviewed).
Now quantity isn’t really the issue here, right? But Marduk sure gave us the quality too, and in a way I wouldn’t have dared to hope for…
I’ll be honest: I never thought highly of Marduk. It seemed to me this band was rather offering an ultra-brutal display of darkness than the real “essence”, the real spirit of what black metal should sound like (this is common with Swedish black metallers, I’ll add). Don’t get me wrong, I love brutality and there isn’t any doubt bands like 1349, which are also evolving in the “brutal black metal” genre, produce great black metal. But brutality isn’t the core element, something else is absolutely indispensable. I never thought I would witness this, but here it is: Marduk found this indispensable element and released their (in my opinion) best album ever.
There’s this double articulation on Rom 5:12. On one hand Marduk has slowed down a little: blast-beats are still frequent, but the tempo is much more alternated, and not often (maybe never) did they play at such slow tempos as some on this new album. On the other hand Marduk has swapped their soulless brutality for a dark, deranging, morbid and shabby atmosphere, and they’ve succeeded a hundred times there! It seems to me listeners will especially have to thank the band’s new singer Mortuus for that. Plague Angel, the first release featuring Mortuus, was a first step in the right direction, but it still didn’t convince me.
On this record, Marduk and Mortuus finally crossed the line: the vocals are truly creepy and evil, it now sounds like Mortuus has liberated himself from all his most ugly demons. The vocals are definitely the best thing I heard on this record, but that ain’t all.
It wouldn’t be fair to only award Rom 5:12’s quality to Mortuus. No: with him Marduk as a whole changed and Morgan’s music writing is particularly inspired and dark on the record. The man has finally privileged atmosphere to speed, and as I observe his talent doing that, I can only hope he’ll carry on with this new orientation. The best tracks to me are the most ambient ones: just check out Imago Mortis, 1651 (very surprising but so good!) or Accuser/Opposer and I think you’ll be convinced (that is if you like very dark music). But don’t worry: Marduk also offers a very healthy dose of brutality so fans shouldn’t be too disappointed. And the brutal tracks are actually great too, because Marduk kept the same atmosphere as on the ambient tracks.
Another surprise is the presence of Primordial’s vocalist Alan Averill on Accuser/Opposer. No one could have predicted to hear clean vocals on a Marduk record, but here it is and…yes it is awesome once again. Alan’s vocals give this excellent track an even greater touch, and his singing mixed with Mortuus’ sick vocals is a memorable moment. Marduk’s former vocalist Joakim Göthberg also makes an appearance on Cold Mouth Prayer, which is one of the album’s highlights too. I’ll end by saying Rom 5:12’s production is perfectly appropriated to the songs: clear and powerful.
So all in all there ain’t two ways about it: Marduk has released a masterpiece which I think represents a new breath into their career. If they follow the same path on future albums, with Mortuus I hope, this band will surely prove to be like an excellent wine: the older the better!
Released : 24/04/2007
Style : Black Metal
Country : Sweden
Label : Blooddawn Productions
Website : www.marduk.nu
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