Search - Marduk :: Plague Angel

Marduk is back, with an almost new lineup

Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 04/08/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Sweden has been the homeland of death metal of all kinds: old school death, thrash death, melodic death, etc. They have produced dozens of great bands leaving the black metal industry to their Norwegian neighbours. However, one Swedish band refused to jump on the bandwagon and be another Entombed, At the Gates, or even Dark Tranquillity ripoff: the one and only Bathory playing a strict form of old school black metal. Yet, if there is another band from Sweden that made a name for themselves (be it good or bad), that must be Marduk. This band has been around for over a decade, creating much controversy with their first couple of releases, especially their infamous demos. Marduk has always been a pioneer of black metal in the Swedish underground scene and they sure deserve respect for that.



Plague Angel is their last studio album as of now, considering they just released the Deathmarch EP and a live DVD after this one. The album also marks a completely new era for these Swedish veterans. Long-time vocalist Legion and bassit B. War are out. They are replaced by the band's first guitarist Devo Anderson (who also produced the album) from about ten years ago and new singer Mortuus of Funeral Mist. For starters, Mortuus is a totally different singer than Legion, and he will fairly or unfairly be compared to his predecessor, labeled as either a horrible singer or an excellent replacement. That has always been the fate of Marduk, their albums, songs, lyrics, member changes, and history. People either hate their guts or praise them to heavens (!). I'll be the first to say Mortuus' raw, beast-like vocals certainly bring a new air of freshness, as he screams and blurts out the lyrics with the utmost conviction. On songs like the compact "Steel Inferno" and the tremelo-picked old school black piece "Life's Emblem", his vocals are arguably more powerful and effective than Legion's, especially on the last couple of Marduk discs. The production is raw and evil. Gone is the clean, sterile production of Marduk's last set of releases mixed in the Abyss Studios. The drumming is sick and fast; the riffs are violent with occasional clean guitar breakdowns and epic overtones. One of the darkest and most absorbing songs is "Throne of Rats", as the song breathes atmosphere, just like in the early 90's black metal albums. "Perish in Flames" will certainly cause more discussion among fans, for its extended build-up and extraordinary chord progressions. The song is epic-sounding, and simply huge in its scope. The riffs are noticably slower and a bit sludgier than their other work, enhanced with pure and raw shrieking. Another lengthy piece is the last cut "Blutrache" (Blood Revenge) with weird sound effects, atmospherics, and a sudden burst into one of the most uncompromising Marduk songs in a long time.



Though described as "a new era of songwriting", I beg to differ. Plague Angel is no where near as surprising or groundbreaking as the older albums. It is, however, strongly written, produced and delivered, just as many fans had expected."

Oh How I Yearn for Marduk of Yore.........

Mitchell R. King | FLORIDA | 06/18/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, Mortuus,the new vocalist,is the singer from Funeral Mist. But he turns in such a sub-par performance with Marduk, probably due to Morgan's iron-fist("Sound as much like Legion as you can"),so we'll give the benefit of the doubt. Secondly, Devo the new bassist, is Marduk's old second guitarist, guess old Morgan strikes again. Anyway, his bass performance comes nowhere near B. War's, who was the most audible and most nimble-fingered bass player in it's recorded history. I really really wanted to love this album, since I am a Marduk fan from the first album. I had long since grown tired of Legion's monotonous screetch-talk delivery, that sounded the exact same since "Panzer". Being a fan of the aforementioned Funeral Mist, I had hoped it would be a marriage made in heaven. Alas, maybe Marduk is suffering the honeymoon jitters, and maybe the next album will be killer. Don't get me wrong any Marduk is better than no Marduk, but I was hoping for the second coming of "Nightwing"!"

SATANIC NORSECORE!!!

JUAN MARTIN GABASTOU | Weston Hills, FL United States | 09/10/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"
After watching their incredible ¨Blood Puke Salvation¨ dvd, I thought I had to own the numerous studio versions of those songs contained on this slab of plastic. Only they didn't turn out to be as good as the live versions. I've always though Marduk was at their best live, and this album proves my point.



My first impression was that this album was the most brutal since ¨Panzer Division¨ only not having to resort to full-speed ahead tempos and constant blastbeating as that one did. There's plenty of tempo variation, breaks, guitar solos and even some conventional drumming here and there for a nice change. Morgan's guitar sound has to be the biggest ever; big sound, big riffs and insane amounts of crunch, layering, panning between channels, dual leads and the like. The more tremolo-picked sound of old is replaced by skull-crushing open chord riffs now.



New singer Mortuus is as low in the mix as Legion was on his first collaborations, which is a pity because the guy can really deliver as his work on Funeral Mist demonstrates.



New bassist (early Marduk's guitarrist Devo), who also doubles as producer, is competent and audible in the mix but not a worthy replacement for B-War; sorry about that.I used to love his guitarwork though.



Drummer Emil performs as well as on ¨World Funeral¨ but his double bass-drum work is faintly mixed in, devoiding the general sound from that organic, pulsating, earth-shaking punch of that record and practically every other Marduk album. If I turned up my sub, the bottom end just blurred off so I had to compromise; this cd is just mixed to sound thinner and emphasize the agression of the guitars.



Conclusion: an insanely heavy album bordering the unlistenable that will take repeated listenings to be appreciated.There aren't nearly as much hooks here as on earlier albums. This is the most aggressive Marduk effort to date, period. Whether you'll like it or not is really a matter of personal taste.

"