Marduk from Sweden is back with a new album. Their previous effort, La Grande Danse Macabre, got received with mixed emotions; some claimed Marduk was on their way to selling out while others thought the album to be boring. I’m afraid that this new album will befall the same fate. Marduk has yet again reduced the overall speed of the songs and apart from several ultra fast tracks most of the album is slow paced. The above introduction might not sound promising but if you look at Marduk’s development in perspective than the change in playing style is perhaps not so unattractive after all. While an album like Panzer Division Marduk might have shaped the image of Marduk to a certain degree, the band has played more diverse material in the past. Sure, Panzer Division Marduk is one of those albums that defines what the band stands for at the core, but come on; you can hardly expect a band to release the same album twice. In that sense World Funeral is a very successful album and anyone who thinks that the band is on the brink of selling out is immediately proven wrong.

The speed has been highly reduced but most songs pound into your skull with an undeniable heaviness and there’s still room for the explosive Marduk; with excellent songs like “With Satan And Victorious Weapons”, “World Funeral” and “Blessed Unholy” the band proves that they can still go full out. The sound quality of this album is just excellent and as heavy as possible. Never before have I heard a Marduk album that is this diverse. From the melodic and pounding “Castrum Doloris” to the epic “Blessed Unholy”, it is Marduk’s new face and the band shows they are not afraid to take risks. Hell yeah, Marduk has managed to convince me again. These guys really know how to play metal; whether this can be called black metal or not I leave up to you, but fact of the matter is that this album just pounds and smashes for more than 45 minutes. If you like the song “Dreams Of Blood And Iron” from Nightwing then you will love this album!