Marduk - Memento Mori (2023)

Unleashing their first full-length release in nearly 5 years, today we have legendary Marduk and the piercing “Memento Mori”. Consistency has been one of the band’s greatest strengths as they pummel through ten tracks and over 40 minutes of punishing Black Metal music. With a straight-forward and yet quite violent approach to the genre, the band certainly delivers on all expectations as this release is filled with excellent tracks with the band’s signature DNA.

The band obliterates the listener with their signature short burst of devastation from the opener, “Memento Mori”. This piercing track has the Marduk signature violent drumming and aggressive riffing complementing Mortuus’ pummeling bass guitar line and snarls. Focusing on crafting piercing riffs, Morgan delivers that magical mixture of old-school BM style with a mixture of more modern and incisive elements, as we can hear on songs like “Heart of the Funeral”, “Blood of the Funeral” and on the chilling “Shovel Beats Scepter”.

As we all know, the band stays away from abusing the traditional blistering tremolo-picking that most BM bands use, and rather focuses on creative speed and intensity. Some more melodic sections on tracks like “Charlatan” and “Merching Bones” perfectly create a very devilish atmosphere, as the music conveys its message in different tempos. The old-school Punkish BM vibe is always present, keeping things simple and yet quite sinister and ravaging.

Closing with the more atmospheric “As We Are”, the band continues to steamroll the competition with their uncompromising and highly relentless sound. “Memento Mori” is definitely a signature Marduk release, however, it is far from linear and just more of the same, as the band manages to keep their sound fresh, relevant, and interesting. The last track also has a nice bonus of having some vocals done by the late L-G Petrov.

Label: Century Media Records

Release: September 1st, 2023

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Sweden