2005-07-18
Marduk have been releasing black metal albums for the last 15 years, with more than 10 albums to date, and countless EPs, problem is, when a band writes as much material in such little time, some of it is sure to suffer in quality, and it did.
Gladly, the band has been taking its time in the last six or seven years, and started to really sit down and out together some strong black metal albums, starting with Nightwind, the album which, for me, signaled the band's movement to a much more mature, and well-rounded black metal.
Their latest offering, Plague Angel, is probably the shining diamond in their career, a complete, varied, and interesting black metal album, that does not sacrifice its authenticity and primal force in its diversity and sophistication.
The album does open with a murderous blast beat, which continue through most of it, but it also does some slower, mid-tempo songs, which do well to amplify the black, depressive atmosphere missing from some of their releases, the song Seven Angels, Seven Trumpets is slower, with riffs that would have been comfortable in a doom metal album, and also includes passages of almost silent, macabre, funeral procession music.
Another strong point for the band is Legion's vocals, he shouts, crones, screams, and does pretty much anything a human can do to sound scary and psychotic.
I hope the band continue this direction; they actually prove that a black metal band can sound aggressive and original, without resorting to the Goth-antics of COF.
Alon Miasnikov
