Released By: Century Media
Release Date: Out Now!!!
Genre: Black Metal
Links: FaceBook
Lineup:
Morgan – Guitars
Mortuus – Vocals
Devo – Bass
Widigs – Drums
Tracklist:
1.0 Frontschwein
2.0 The Blond Beast
3.0 Afrika
4.0 Wartheland
5.0 Rope Of Regret
6.0 Between The Wolf-Packs
7.0 Nebelwerfer
8.0 Falaise: Cauldron Of Blood
9.0 Doomsday Elite
10.0 503
11.0 Thousand-Fold Death
It must be difficult being so revered in your chosen genre that you are looked at as one of the stalwarts and leaders of many who have come after you. It would seem pleasing long-time fans is an unenviable task. You can create something that falls strongly in-line with previous work and have people complaining about the lack of progression, or you can try and branch out a bit and do something different and have people complaining about not sticking to your roots.
Bands like AC/DC and MOTORHEAD have been releasing interchangeable hard rock albums for ever and a day with much success and for the past 23 or so years, Black Metal has had MARDUK. Sure over the last twelve albums there have been a few little nuances here and there, mainly due to different production techniques, and also a very tiny visit into a more slower-paced Atmospheric feel during the initial rise of this slightly different approach to the standard Black Metal formula. But for the most part, MARDUK have maintained their brand of visceral, blasphemous, dirty and dark Black Metal in its purest and most primal form from the very beginning.
Their latest album, FRONTSCHWIEN stick true to MARDUK formula, and while not sticking out from any of their other work in a big way, it’s definitely got something that makes you want to keep coming back for more and continues the great run on form that started with 2004’s PLAGUE ANGEL and the recruiting of current vocalist Mortuus. Being on a major label like Century Media means that the production values are certainly upped significantly from a lot of Black Metal released on a smaller budget. That raw, screeching sound that has always been a staple of the genre’s production style is still there, but it’s thickened up a bit and a little easier to take on the ear.
Blast beats galore, WWII-themed lyrics, and plenty of single-string riffing is what you will find here in the music department, but as MARDUK have done many times before there is plenty of color and shade throughout the tracks. Actually, the more mid-paced sections in songs like THE BLOND BEAST, AFRIKA and BETWEEN THE WOLF PACKS all serve as stand-out moments where we get to catch a short breath before the next aural onslaught begins.
FRONTSCHWEIN once again sees MARDUK holding the reigns and overseeing the Black Metal landscape. If you have any of the bands other albums there won’t be much here that you haven’t heard before, especially if you own PANZER DIVISION MARDUK, but it’s all done so well and stuck together so neatly that it will draw you in for repeat listens and stay with you long after.
Written by: ZeeZee Dawson
Ratings: ZeeZee 9/10
About Author
