In the mid 90’s Jeffrey Arnett, Professor of Psychology, dubbed heavy metal as “the sensory equivalent of war”. Back then, he was hardly referring to Östergötland marauders MARDUK but that definition fits their music like a bloody glove.
What’s more, the Swedes are striving just for that with each calculated step forward. In an attempt to slap back at antifa activists who ruined a good deal of their North American and European gigs in 2017, MARDUK released ‘Viktoria’ on June 22nd – the anniversary of ‘Operation Barbarossa’ – the German invasion of the Soviet Union that started in 1941. The whole album design (especially the unapologetically totalitarian front cover) as well as the texts to ‘June 44’, ‘Narva’ and ‘The Devil’s Song’ leave little to the imagination – this is very clearly another one of their war albums, following in the steps of ‘Panzer Division Marduk’, ‘Iron Dawn’ and ‘Frontschwein’.
And just like these previous releases, this is a pounding, galloping collection of tremolo-picks and blasting black metal relying on an almost punk aesthetics; very simple and hard-hitting tracks that are nevertheless instantly memorable (some catchy choruses here!). ‘Equestrian Bloodlust’ and ‘Viktoria’ possess an almost pop sensibility… if pop music was brought up in the trenches of Verdun and fed with the early demos of MAYHEM and SODOM during its very first years.
And as we listen to ‘Narva’, we can but marvel at the very consistent and very furios effort that MARDUK put into their music year in and year out – not giving a f**k about modernity, going instead for a lightning fast black metal sound not unlike a Stuka, plunging into attack.
‘Viktoria’ is even more stripped down than ‘Iron Dawn’ and ‘Frontschwein’ – offering no samples, no industrial sound but rather a murderingly efficient consistency leaving us battered and bruised. And wishing for more.