MARDUK - BLACKCROWNED (2002)

Both these Marduk vinyls was released on Regain Records in 2002. Not sure how many copies of them were released. I know that the 2 picture disc releases also from 2002 was limited to 500 copies each.

A Marduk compilation box set limited to 10 000 copies called Blackcrowned was released 2002 it included a live-VHS, 2-CD & lyrics booklet with rare photos. Already in 2002 the VHS format was beginning to become obsolete, at least for me, so I thought that it was kind of strange they included it back then. They eventually released it on a standalone DVD in 2005. I'll do a post on my 3 Marduk DVD’s one day.

The 2 LP’s has all songs from the 2-CD in the box set. It has all sorts of miscellaneous assortment of songs like covers of Hellchild by Venom; Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones; Earth A.D. by Misfits; Macabre and Samhain by Samhain. The covers are alright, except for the butchering of the amazing timeless song Paint It Black. There's also live recordings of Baptism By Fire; Funeral Bitch and Dracole Wayda from July 2000 at Waldrock Open Air in the Netherlands. The sound was not professionally recorded it almost sounds like a bootleg recording, then again the Blackcrowned VHS/DVD has a a bunch of that... I don't mind the quality because I was used to old live bootleg VHS copies of Dissection, Dismember, Marduk etc. from the 90's.

Something I really appreciate is the 4 studio rehearsal songs from April of 1994. Amazing to hear the song Opus Nocturne performed by Marduk! Even if that one is just instrumental on Blackcrowned release. The 3 others from that Opus Nocturne (1994) rehearsal recording are Materialized In Stone; Sulphur Souls and Autumnal Reaper they at least have vocals on them.

Have no clue why they did re-recordings in 2001 of old classic songs like: The Sun Turns Black As Night; The Funeral Seemed To Be Endless; Darkness Breeds Immortality; A Sculpture of the Night; Untrodden Paths (Wolves Part II) & The Sun Has Failed. Don’t know why these were re-recorded? I usually hate re-recordings of old classic songs. These ones are alright but the originals are of course at least 100 times better!!

Another amazing thing on this release is the 4-track recordings from June 1995 of 4 songs that ended up on the 1996 album Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered a year later. Those songs are: Beyond The Grace Of God; Glorification (instrumental): Black Tormentor / Shadow Of Our Infernal King and Infernal Eternal / Towards The Land Of The Damned these were clearly working titles of the songs was finally on the Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered album.

The song Bloodletting was recorded in January of 2001 and was supposed to be included in some horror movie that never got released. Marduk finished the song a couple of months later that year in September and included it on the Blackcrowned release. The song is also on the World Funeral (2003) album. It's a few seconds shorter there and doesn't sound much different from this version.

Deathride is a medley of riffs from the Panzer Division Marduk (1999) album that was used on some Metal Mulisha stuntvideo soundtrack (whatever the fuck that is?). Another highlight for me is the song Todeskessel Kurland from the 1999 Panzer Division Marduk session. The band didn't finish it until 2 years later. Both these songs appears on reissued versions of Panzer Division Marduk like my picture disc vinyl.

Only small gripe I got with these two vinyls is that they have the exact same artwork on the back sleeve. Doesn't effect the music of course so it's not a big deal, still it would be nice with a design on each. The box set however was a bit overkill though, to print as many as 10 000 copies, the use VHS and CD's. I much rather would've it come in a box with 2 LP's + a DVD and maybe 1500 - 3000 copies that could be a really cool collectors piece. Even if I got the LP's and the DVD I still don't own the Blackcrowned box set, but I'll get it some day. It's not expensive or hard to find these days.

I really enjoy both Blackcrowned albums but I cannot recommend them to any casual Marduk fans. These releases are clearly meant for die-hard fans like me. And as always...

Praise Hail Marduk!!