MARDUK

“VIKTORIA”
Album Review by Dark Juan

8/10

Marduk are: As uncompromising and martial as ever.

Morgan – Guitars (Comes a close second for Least Black Metal Name Ever.)
Mortuus – Vocals (Possibly the most Black Metal name ever. Only Gaahl can top it.)
Devo – Bass (If he has a problem, does he whip it? 80s electronic joke in a BM review? Outlandish.)
Frederik Widigs – Drums (Wins the Dark Juan Award For Least Black Metal Name Ever. Why isn’t he called something like, oh, I dunno – Winterdeath or something?)

I have been sitting on this record for about three weeks waiting for a suitably black, gloomy day to review it. This has coincided with a heatwave so I am now enduring the unenviable task of trying to review a very martial Black Metal record with blazing sunshine, oppressive heat and also doing it sober, which is a travesty. I hate myself so much right now. I could go and drink more but I am still fighting off last night’s hangover, and believe it or not, even your friendly, slightly perverted favourite hellpriest has shit to do during the day. It doesn’t matter if you are a legend in your own head, a genuine legend or just one of the crowd, we all have to go to the shops. Even Cradle Of Filth have to go to the shops. I’m listening to a track called Narva at the moment. Mrs. Dark Juan has a penchant for ruining metal by mishearing lyrics, and it is a habit I have picked up and all I can hear during the chorus is Mortuus singing, “Hagrid, it’s Hagrid!” Even though he isn’t.

She does it to me with Ghost all the time. Year Zero’s chant at the start has had Satanas replaced by Santa Mouse, and the chorus, “Welcome to year zero” replaced with “Welcome to New Zealand.” She even (for she is a very talented artist and tattoo artist) drew me a little cartoon of Santa Mouse holding a little “Welcome to New Zealand” sign. She did it with Rats (ah ooh waa ahhh!) as well. That’s been Bats, Hats, Cats and Flats (ah ooh waa ahhh!) variously depending on her mood and level of impishness.

So, Marduk then. Dark Juan has been a fan since the very early days and was the proud owner of a Fuck Me Jesus t-shirt during his teenage years. The one with the Nun wanking with a cross on the front of it. The one that wasn’t the Cradle Of Filth one with Jesus Is A Cunt on the back of it. Got arrested in Manchester because of that shirt once. Even had a tape of it somewhere. Anyway, this record is called VIktoria (cunningly to show that it is their VIth album. Impressive, chaps.) It is Black Metal of the highest calibre, from a band who bloody well should be expert considering they have been going since the early 90s. It is an interesting listen, not least because it benefits from a proper, full sounding production! Rather than maintain the barely listenable standard production job beloved of black metal bands (Guitar sounding like a moped at high revs, recorded in a jam jar four room away from where the sound is actually being generated, drums being inaudible apart from crash cymbals and double bass drumming with the resonance of using a freshly torn off arm against a brick wall and absolutely pointless bass because even the inaudible drums have drowned it out…) Marduk have opted to pay someone to make them sound good, and by jiminy it’s excellent. The guitar sounds like flesh caught on razor wire, the drums sounding like an artillery barrage overhead and the bass rumbling like the ground where the barrage has just hit. This is what black metal is supposed to sound like and this is the first album of that genre EVER that has had a satisfying production job on it. The good things keep on coming.

One area of concern for some people about Marduk is their use of and writing about Nazi imagery. I don’t particularly have a problem with them writing about the Nazis as the writing is from the point of view of an observer, and doesn’t glorify Nazis at all. It is descriptive writing very much in the vein of Slayer’s Angel Of Death and most of Jeff Hanneman’s writing output. Nazis and their horrors are a rich vein of inspiration for dark music and Marduk appear to have used this to their advantage. Even Dark Juan used to wear an Iron Cross and I am not, and have never been, even slightly interested in Nazism apart from to see it destroyed. However, I can understand some people’s worry about it. Especially since Panzer Division Marduk and the fact that the cover of this record is a Teutonic looking character wearing a stahlhelm. This is not to get away from the brutal magnificence of this album though. It’s a richly produced record of BM that nods towards the traditional but has enough modernity and flair in the arrangements to move it apart from the black metal herd of repressed sexuality and religious rage. Frontman Mortuus’ voice is thankfully clear enough to make out some of the lyrics (which are usually HILARIOUSLY unlike the tortured howls and screaming emanating from the desperately flailing, corpse painted creature in the middle of the stage) which is a nice change on a BM record and I have to say my favourite tune on here is the frankly humungous Tiger I. It’s even better because it is named after a tank. Faster than the rocket from a Panzerfaust, destructive potential of the Schwerer Gustav railway gun and having the efficiency of the Japanese railway network, it is a perfect example of how black metal can and should sound. No more of this tinny, almost mono-sounding recording, black metal hordes! Marduk have proved that you can play absolutely top class black metal and actually have a production that allows you to hear every instrument. Which leads me to a criticism of the production. Gentlemen, your snare sound is absolutely awful and far too far forward in the mix. Although it’s still a treat to actually hear one! And I would really, REALLY like to have Marduk absolutely refute Nazism, because they are a bit deliberately vague about it all, which is great for generating headlines but makes me not trust them fully, which is sad as I have been a fan for nearly 20 years. So to quickly summarize – great great record, but not enough unequivocal condemnation of right wing stuff. That’s why it’s not getting a full score. The reason being, I went to the martyred village in France, Ouradour – Sur – Glane, and it deeply affected me. It is a village left in exactly the state it was in after a Panzergrenadier battalion of the SS went in, razed it and murdered every inhabitant. Including children and babies. Look it up. Educate yourselves. THAT sort of horror is why Nazism is to be resisted at all costs, even today, and that is why Marduk need to distance themselves fully from it. Normally, I wouldn’t let politics creep into reviews but this is important, especially with the new rise of the right wing across Europe.

Resist!

The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System has now got off its political soapbox and awards Marduk a Blitzkrieging 8/10. That’s the equivalent of a panzer attack on an infantry position. Shellholes, severed limbs, blast damage, destroyed armour and crushed human flesh everywhere.

TRACKLIST

Werwolf
June 44
Equestrian Bloodlust
Tiger I
Narva
The Last Fallen
Viktoria
The Devil’s Song
Silent Night

http://www.marduk.nu
https://www.facebook.com/Mardukofficial/

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