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More like an experiment gone somewhat awry.-
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| Marduk: Wormwood |
Black Metal
Regain Records
September 24th, 2009
- Nowhere, No-One, Nothing - 3:19
- Funeral Dawn - 5:51
- This Fleshly Void - 3:06
- Unclosing The Curse - 2:15
- Into Utter Madness - 4:56
- Phosphorous Redeemer - 6:11
- To Redirect Perdition - 6:41
- Whorecrown - 5:29
- Chorus Of Cracking Necks - 3:47
- As A Garment - 4:17
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| Review Information |
Release length: 45:01
Review posted on October 29th, 2009
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| | Original Score: 3/5 |
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| 2011 Grading Scale: 6/10 |
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| 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)
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| EP(s): |
Fuck me Jesus (1995) • Glorification (1996) • Here's No Peace (1997) • Obedience (2000) • Slay the Nazarene (2002)
Deathmarch (2004) • Iron Dawn (2011)
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| Single(s): |
Hearse (2003)
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| Demo(s): |
Demo #1 (Fuck me Jesus) (1991)
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| Compilation(s): |
Blackcrowned (Box Set) (2002)
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| Live CD(s): |
Live in Germania (1997) • Infernal Eternal (2000) • Warschau (2005)
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| DVD(s): |
Funeral Marches and Warsongs (2003) • Blackcrowned (2005) • Blood Puke Salvation (2006)
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| Review |
Wormwood is the latest offering from the Swedish black metal act Marduk. It seems that, as of late, the band has been changing, or evolving as some fans would put it, or unevolution as some would say with the release Rom 5:12. Either way you look at it, the band has melded a sound of furiousw blast beats and some ambient moments that scream the new third wave of Black Metal, but also seem to blend first and second wave styles as well to create a nice, if not clustered and often not too inspiring, Black Metal release.
Yes, it seems as if the band has decided to blend various levels of Black Metal onto this release as one, and it is blatently obvious as soon as the release starts with blistering blast beats and matching guitar work, leaving a rather unimpressive after taste. The song then bleeds into "Funeral Dawn" (which many of the songs on here will do), which is something that would be considered early Black Metal due to it's much slower music and emphasis on the guitars instead of constant seizure-like drumming. The only issues with this would be the ambient-like ear piercing squeels that come from the vocalist. There's a moment where the music stops except for the drums and the vocalist continues on normally, and then it's head first right back into the blast beats again, but this time the music becomes more impressive.
The nice thing about Wormwood is that many of the tracks seem to just bleed right into one another, which makes much of this just seem like a few songs seperated by various means such as an ambient track. The problem with that, though, is that the ambient elements on this release are just downright irritating. Take the transition between "This Fleshly Void" and "Into Utter Madness". The first bleeds into a just over two minute track of what sounds like a church bell with slow, somewhat droning guitars and moaning before bleeding into the next song. There's no real reason for "Unclosing The Curse" aside to try to push the length of the album.
One thing that would have been nice is if the band wrote more tracks like "Phosphorous Redeemer". This song stands out the most on here due to the fact that it has more a structure with the music and not just an onslaught of blast beats. You have moments where the music will slow down and shy away from blast beats to show off some nice guitar work, and then it's moments where the music is just very intense, and it works out very well and every transitions perfectly within the song. The final two tracks aren't anything too spectacular either, and follow right after the furious "Whorecrown" which is an excellent song, even if it's a little weak lyrically compared to the rest of the material on this release.
Wormwood is a nice addition to Marduk's discography, but it's not their best attempt to date. With the band dabbling in various styles and time period of Black Metal, this release comes off as more of an experimentation album then anything, and many of the tracks wind up just being boring or repative. The use of seemless transitions between songs on the first half of the album is a nice touch, and "Into Utter Madness" to "Whorecrown" are where this one really shines, and "Funeral Dawn" is a good track too, but the rest will result in programmed playlists or repetative use of the skip button on whatever means you play your metal.
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Physical review copy of this release provided by:
personal funds.
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