|
Ruthless war-themed Black Metal that lacks a proper atmosphere.-
|
| Marduk: Iron Dawn |
Black Metal
Regain Records
May 31st, 2011
- Warschau 2 - Headhunter Halfmoon - 4:07
- Wacht am Rhein Drumbeats of Death - 4:24
- Prochorovka - Blood and Sunflowers - 4:52
|
| Links |
| Review Information |
Release length: 13:23
Review posted on May 25th, 2011
- |
|
| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
  |
|
|
| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Dark Endless (1992) • Those of the Unlight (1993) • Opus Nocturne (1994) • Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered (1996)
Nightwing (1998) • Panzer Division Marduk (1999) • La Grande Danse Macabre (2001) • World Funeral (2003) • Plague Angel (2004)
Rom 5:12 (2007) • Wormwood (2009)
|
| EP(s): |
Fuck me Jesus (1995) • Glorification (1996) • Here's No Peace (1997) • Obedience (2000) • Slay the Nazarene (2002)
Deathmarch (2004) • Iron Dawn (2011)
|
| Single(s): |
Hearse (2003)
|
| Demo(s): |
Demo #1 (Fuck me Jesus) (1991)
|
| Compilation(s): |
Blackcrowned (Box Set) (2002)
|
| Live CD(s): |
Live in Germania (1997) • Infernal Eternal (2000) • Warschau (2005)
|
| DVD(s): |
Funeral Marches and Warsongs (2003) • Blackcrowned (2005) • Blood Puke Salvation (2006)
|
|
| - |
| Review |
Marduk has been a staple Black Metal act for many years. Each album stands out in the community for plenty of reasons and most of the time their full-length recordings and full of anger and razor-sharp music. Of course, the band has put out a good number of EPs that have received praise too. So, it should come as no shock that Marduk is issuing another new EP, showing the band is not looking to stop any time soon considering the band's last full-length hit roughly two years earlier to this release. Iron Dawn introduces three new songs on this EP, and while the time would be right to strike with a new full-length, this release offers fans some new material in a decent amount of time. But are these three solid songs, or are they something a little less spectacular?
Those who knows Marduk's line of work will already know what to expect musically, but Iron Dawn proves to be something of a different beast all together. While the band is not a stranger at all to furious blast beats and razor sharp guitars at lightning speeds, this three song collection seems to take this more modern Black Metal approach back in time a little bit. The recording quality feels a little raw compared to the more modern digital recordings the band has offered. Tack that into some of the sound effects the band litters into "Warschau II - Headhunter Halfmoon", and you find a release that is cluttered with war-related Black Metal madness. The vocals are also something to take note of, being further back in the recording and seem to have some strong distortion to them in the vein of early second wave bands, though with a much stronger and energetic performance that ranges from the traditional rhasp of the style to gutterals, to harsh spoken word sections.
But, while this may all come off as massively cluttered Black Metal, Iron Dawn makes for three songs of pure intensity. While there really isn't much atmosphere to the recording, the music itself is aggression and brutalizing, feeling more like a sandpaper-like assault on the listener that can capture the mayhem that is war. It also becomes clear that there is a bit of a concept behind the release and the songs. The material generally seems to bleed into each other from end to start, and the flow of the music is similar. The blast beats and guitars manage to retain enough distinctive elements to them to keep the songs from sounding similar to one another, though you'll still feel like some parts of one song sounds similar to another, such as "Wacht am Rhein Drumbeats of Death" and some various moments that sound similar to "Warschau II - Headhunter Halfmoon", though it greatly lacks a lot of the war effects that appeared on that song.
"Prochorovka - Blood and Sunflowers", however, ends this EP in a dynamically different manner. The song itself is much, much slower, at a pace that would be consistant with Doom Metal. The track is alright, and offers up some variety to the release, but again, there's no real atmosphere present to the recording, though definitely gives a heavy vibe to the fast-paced aggressive Black Metal assault. It feels more like it's meant to symbolize the end of a war, or, given the sound effects used in "Warschau II - Headhunter Halfmoon", more like an airstrike, and each track is meant to represent the madness, then the melancholic conclusion through those the assault happened against. If you look at it that way, the EP becomes a little more interesting over those three tracks.
Overall, Iron Dawn only really suffers from a lack of atmosphere. The songs are punishing on more then one level, and the music is simply relentless the whole time. Fans of the band will surely embrace this EP for that intensity and the war-themed music and lyrics, but for the casual fan it's still something worth checking out thanks to it's overall aggression. The songs really pose no problems are are solid, enjoyable modern Black Metal-like audio assaults from start to finish. If you think the price tag on-line or in stores is too high, then give a sample first, or at least spend the money to grab it in MP3 form since chances are good it won't be much due to being three tracks of ruthless Black Metal. It's not an EP you'll come back to over and over in short amounts of time, but it's a astrong release that definitely will find you coming back for more, and it makes a great release to tide you over while you wait for the next full-length Marduk album.
|
| - |
|
|
Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Regain Records
via Earsplit PR.
| Submit to Social Networks |
|
|
|
