Marduk "Viktoria" CD

I've never made any secret of Mortus era Marduk being my favourite of all. I love all of their albums since Plague Angel and this one is no exception. The opening track Werwolf is a little punky, Although I liked it, I hoped the entire album would not sound like that. Never fear, what follows is very much later era Marduk. The rest of the album is Marduk belting out savage black metal at break neck speed. Clocking in at thirty three minutes this album represents a swift uppercut delivered by professionals.
The unrelenting blasts are carefully tempered by slower and even melodic patches to great affect. Every detail of this album has been carefully crafted. Any filler has been left on the cutting room floor. A good example of this is when Narva comes to a crescendo with forceful drumming and vocals followed by a masterful melodic guitar piece. I defy anyone to resist the urge to chant "hammering - keep hammering" along to this one.
Fredrik Widigs has already proven himself to be and excellent choice of Marduk drummers, but he has really outdone himself this time. Everything he hits he does so perfectly with a style of his own. He really powers a lot of the tracks on this album. Equally effective at high and low speeds his performance is outstanding on this one. The blasting as well as subtle touches on The Last Fallen showcase just what this guy can do. Singer Mortus delivers his usual ferocious vocals and Morgan and Devo turn in the performance of their lives.
If chainsaw riffing, blastbeats and viciously delivered vocals are your thing, accept no substitute. Those expecting Opus Nocturne part two will keep having to wait. For a band on their fourteenth album to be this relevant is almost unheard of. Doubtless the continued use of world war two lyrics will gather more attention from some corners than necessary. Personally I find it refreshing. I have at least five hundred albums with purely satanic themes and to be honest it is good to hear black metal bands expanding beyond that.

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