Frontschwein
(Century Media Records)
52:33min
"Panzer Division Marduk" was probably the biggest "commercial" success of this Swedish Black Metal killing machine (if we can use the word "commercial" here at all), so it’s not a big surprise they decided to return to war themes on their new album. It looks like "Frontschwein" is something we can call a perfect MARDUK album, or maybe even a perfect Black Metal album. High speed drumming, killing rhythm section, aggressive and ripping riffs and vocals, and all of this really well produced, with dynamic, transparent and organic sound (without the overpolished and clicking sound that killed so many great albums). MARDUK doesn’t need introduction, and fans who prefer their Black Metal to sound like recorded in a garage will probably stay away from them anyway, but all those who appreciate pro and tight sounding extreme Metal, will just love this album. It’s also worth mentioning "Frontschwein" includes some of the best compositions MARDUK ever wrote – sometimes when you take a new Black Metal album, and you listen to it for the first time, you don’t know if you are still in the first song, if you listen to the third one, or the last one. On "Frontschwein", every single song sounds good both separately and as part of the whole thing. And it’s not an easy thing to do. Your move, WATAIN! And for the record: you can choose between mediabook and regular jewel case CD, clear, golden and black vinyl (yeah, download will be available as well, but seriously, do we want to listen to high quality Metal from mp3…?). More information: www.marduk.nu and www.centurymedia.com
Bart Gabriel
• MARDUK - Infernal Eternal (Darragh O' Leary)
• MARDUK - Wormwood (Matthias Auch )
• MARDUK - World Funeral (Stefan Franke)
• MARDUK - La Grande Danse Macabre (Frank Stöver)
• MARDUK - Interview (Ramon Claassen)