Marduk – "Memento Mori"

Black metal album of the year of the maggot

I never got properly into Marduk. Because I never got properly into black metal. And that, kids, is called being honest and objective.

However, in an age where new metal bands are becoming increasingly more polished and based on droning, groovy rhythms rather than those vivaciously dirty guitar riffs on which the entire metal genre is founded, it's only a good thing that Marduk are still around.

Granted, most of "Memento Mori" is a bit of a straight-up blast fest – as one might expect from the band. Never mind that the title also coincides with this year's latest LP from Depeche Mode; it wouldn't have been original otherwise. And it reflects the music.

However, what Marduk's 15th studio album might lack in originality, it more than makes up for in its raw, dirty aggression and its loyalty to black metal's profane fundamentals.

Now, you could probably say this about a lot of black metal albums. But given the genre's classic sonic lo-fi aesthetics, that still doesn't necessarily mean those albums don't sound like shit. But this one doesn't. One thing that strikes me in that opening title track is how audible the chords are and how crisp the bass sound is. Yes, that's right: A black metal record with a good bass sound. Probably not the first one; joke still hasn't gotten old, though.

The dirty, destructive extremity here is amazing. This is the sound of uninhibited freedom on a level that normies will never understand.

And at the same time, in all its alternation between sick blast tempos and ugly breaks, "Memento Mori" – the track as well as the record – manages to strike a perfect balance between being melodically tangible, yet wonderfully coarse. And what a delight it is.

Both the pace and the immodest atmosphere even pick up after a bit, with the extremely fast "Blood of the Funeral" featuring a disquieting, almost insect-like, lead figure. The drum fills are insane. And the mid-section with its brass-like background chord swells is just as disquieting.

Another stand-out is the subsequent slow triplet-feel and lone church bell of "Shovel Beats Sceptre", its cadence being melodic, but at the same time eerie, blasphemous, and abrasive. And that, right there, is evidence that nobody needs to compromise anything to make metal that's as simple and catchy as it's authentic; as well-produced as it's ugly. This is not only how black metal should sound; this is how all metal should be.

While the downright stand-out tracks are few, the stand-out elements remain on side 2. "Coffin Carol" features a dirty and simple, punk rock-like guitar figure, which, then, expands in variations of itself until the whole thing breaks with a melodic bass sinking to the melancholic minor 6th before an almost clean outro. And "Year of the Maggot" has this wonderful off-beat hi-hat section that almost makes me hear reggae influences. Almost.

What Marduk's 15th studio album might lack in originality, it more than makes up for in its raw, dirty aggression and its loyalty to black metal's profane fundamentals.

Indeed, this is the work of musicians with +30 years of experience. Musicians who are both good at what they do and who are able to incorporate elements from other genre modalities without compromising on their own genre's expression. And that, kids, is called being professional.

Things do get a bit too repetitive and too blast-y towards the end. In an extreme genre, one can, pretty much by definition, only have so many variations. But the dirty, destructive extremity here is amazing. This is the sound of uninhibited freedom on a level that normies will never understand. And the slow conclusion of "As We Are", more doom metal than anything else, is the variation anyone would need at this point.

Curiously, for an album that deals a lot with our mortality (in case you hadn't guessed from its song titles), its closing track apparently features deceased Entombed vocalist L.G. Petrov (R.I.P.) on background vocals. I can't hear 'em, though. And it was obviously recorded before he croaked it (see what I did there?). But, I mean, having your dead friend contribute on an album about the merciless impermanence of our human life is... pretty bitchin'.

Anyway. As the classic true metal bands are nearing retirement, classic death metal and black metal will be the yardstick for trueness within (yikes) 5 to 10 years. And in all its hostile, anti-commercial zero-fucks-given expressive mode, "Memento Mori" is as true as it gets. Take note, kids.

Rating: 5 out of 6

Genre: Black metal
Release date: 1/9/2023
Label: Century Media
Producer: Magnus Andersson