MARDUK - HERE'S NO PEACE - SHADOW RECORDS LP (1998) & CD (1997)

One of my favorite releases in my entire Marduk collection is this 12" picture disc vinyl that comes with a poster limited to 500 copies on Shadow Records from 1998. The CD had been released a year earlier by the same label.

It's not one of my most expensive Marduk vinyls. However not saying it's a cheap and easy release to come by especially with the poster. And yes the poster edges are supposed to look like it has been torn/ripped.

The combination of Marduk, being one of my favorite bands ever, on one of the best record labels ever from my country Shadow Records. That makes it such a much more valuable release too me then any monetary aspect.

The history behind the Here's No Peace release is one interesting story. Recorded in December of 1991 with Dan Swanö at his Unisound/Hellspawn/Gorysound Studio. It was the second time ever that Marduk made a recording since their first and only demo Fuck Me Jesus from June 1991.

Over at Metal Archives it says that Here's No Peace supposedly were going to be released as a 7" on the North American label Necropolis Records.

But I'm going with what is being said in the first Marduk interview I ever read. Issue number 5 from November 1992 of the Swedish Close-Up Magazine with the now only remaining original member and founder of Marduk Morgan Håkansson (guitar).

Where he states that it would be to released on a German label called Slaughter Records as a 7" vinyl. Somehow that never happened and Morgan tells what a total fuck-up that guy was. The article says it would be called Here's No Fucking Silence.

Finally in October of 1997 Marcus Tena's Shadow Records released the recording on CD it being the 2nd release ever on that label. Another favorite in my Marduk collection is a picture disc version from 1997 of the Marduk album Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered (1996) it was the first ever release on Shadow Records.

The original Here's No Peace CD has 3 songs:
Here's No Peace (instrumental intro)
Still Fucking Dead
Within The Abyss.

A year later when Shadow Records released this picture disc 12" they added 2 more songs. Both being Bathory covers In Conspiracy With Satan and Woman Of Dark Desire.

Marduk are good at doing covers but Bathory is a hard band to try emulating their own sound too especially those older songs. They were already so perfectly recorded by the legendary Bathory. Not complaining though it's a great addition to the vinyl release.

Both appeared on the compilation In Conspiracy With Satan - A Tribute To Bathory (1998). That David "Blackmoon" Parland (1970 - 2013) ex. guitarist for Dark Funeral, Necrophobic but also the bands Infernal and War released on his Hellspawn Records with bands like Nifelheim, Emperor, Unanimated, Ophthalamia, Satyricon etc.

Marduk had already released a Bathory cover of The Return Of Darkness And Evil in 1996 on their Glorification EP. Out of those 3 covers my favorite one is probably Woman Of Dark Desire.

But about the original Marduk songs here Within The Abyss had already appeared on the Fuck Me Jesus recording which I do think is the best version of that song.

It's also featured on their debut album Dark Endless (1992) in my opinion the Here's No Peace one is better then the record one also.

At the time Marduk had a Death/Black Metal sound until the release of their second album Those Of The Unlight (1993) which is straight forward Black Metal. That is also one of the best records ever from the Swedish scene.

Still Fucking Dead (Here's No Peace) as it called on Dark Endless that No Fashion Records released is another excellent version but I do prefer the recording on the Here's No Peace release.

As much as I do like the debut album the recordings before sounds more raw, unfiltered with a more meaner sound to it is the best way I can describe them.

At the time of the Here's No Peace recording the Marduk line-up consisted of:
- Morgan Håkansson (guitar)
- Joakim Göthberg (drummer 1990-1993 later vocalist from 1993 to 1995)
- Andreas Axelsson (vocals 1990-93)
- Rickard Kalm (bass 1990-92)

The same personal had recorded the Fuck Me Jesus demo but for their debut Dark Endless they had added Devo Andersson (guitar). Who made his first performance with Marduk on a release with that album.

Here's No Peace is definitely a most have for any Marduk fan. I consider it to be the 2nd best EP they have ever made. It was also my gateway into Shadow Records with the 1997 CD release me being a huge fan of Marduk.

For any casual fans of the band I do recommend getting it also. Although you might don't want to try hunt down a copy of the 12" Shadow Records vinyl, the 1997 CD isn't near as expensive as that one.

Believe all the songs also appear on some CD reissues if you want to go down that route instead.

Here's No Peace was reissued on Marduk's own Blooddawn Productions in 2001 on a 10" vinyl that one comes in a sleeve. Have huge buyers remorse for not getting that one at a record fair in my hometown a couple of years ago for what was a great deal then.

Later it was also released on CD by Regain Records in 2007 that has a colored cover artwork. I don't own that particular one yet.

My intention is to own a copy of every different artwork Marduk has used for each album and/or EP and there's a ton of them especially from the Regain Records era.

Usually don't like whenever cover artworks gets altered but Marduk being the band by far taking up most space in my entire collection I want to see that collecting goal through. Have a long way to get to that point especially with the CD's but ain't in any kind of hurry.

Not trying to brag and boast but really got one amazing deal on this Shadow Records LP in the autumn of last year over at a Swedish auction site. Actually one of my top-10 maybe even top-5 finds ever.

Also expect a lot of more Marduk content to be posted. Been really into them for the last couple of months I have been filling "almost all" the gaps I had in my EP/7" vinyl collection. Got a bunch of "new posters" and I want to post my old 90's concert flyers plus the 3 DVD's that I've rewritten so many times for more than a year...

Some may think that Here's No Peace is sparse of content but I don't get that opinion. Not only are the songs amazing but also a very early recording in the Swedish Black Metal scene and for me that makes it even more interesting. Also always interested to hear how Dan Swanö progressed with his Unisound recorded releases.

Anyway that was Here's No Peace a lot of other information but have been on a Instagram and blog hiatus for a couple of weeks due to some health issues.

Forever, eternally and as always PRAISE HAIL MARDUK!!

BATHORY - HAMMERHEART (1990) & TWILIGHT OF THE GODS (1991)

Hammerheart the limited edition gatefold first print vinyl on Noise International. Not often that I find such gems as this one in my own midsized Swedish hometown (approx 100 000).

Twilight Of The Gods vinyl is a 2003 reissue on Black Mark Production.

Been listening too Bathory extensively for quite some time so I thought of doing a 2 part series of their viking albums. This is part I or II:

Hammerheart & Twilight Of The Gods were the 5th & 6th Bathory albums. Hammerheart being the first release in their "viking era". Sure there were hints of it with songs like Odens Ride Over Nordland; A Fine Day To Die and also the title track from their previous Blood Fire Death (1988) record.
Other bands had released viking themed songs long before. But here Bathory go all into full Viking Metal mode and the Hammerheart album was the first of its kind.

Believe I bought both these albums on CD back in 1996 it could maybe even been in 1997 at the same time. Because the Jubileum I & II compilations had many of the best songs and being 16 years old one had to prioritize albums to buy.

Hammerheart didn't quite blow me away like the albums Blood Fire Death; Under The Sign Of The Black Mark; The Return and the debut Bathory had done. I appreciated the songs that appeared on the compilations especially Shores In Flames and Song To Hall Up High.

But it didn't take long before I realized just how excellent the album really is. It starts perfectly with the already mentioned Shores In Flames and it's 11 min of pure amazing Scandinavian Viking/Black Metal at its finest. Then another excellent song Valhalla also a long one 9,5 min.

Already 2 songs into Hammerheart one can hear especially where especially the early Viking/Pagan Metal bands from the Norwegian Black Metal scene found their inspiration. Bathory were truly the godfathers of the Scandinavian scene.

Baptised In Fire And Ice and Father To Son are both amazing songs and just like almost all the other songs on the album quite long but feels way shorter. Actually the shortest song on the album is the 2,5 min long Song To Hall Up High.

I'm not sure when Home Of The Once Brave was written. But it sounds more like something like a less refined song from the follow-up Twilight Of The Gods rather then a Hammerheart song. Still one of my favorites on the record though.

Now for a long and maybe controversial topic. I really like One Rode To Asa Bay but I got to be in the right mood to fully appreciate it. Still one of their most overrated songs in my opinion. It wouldn't be my choice to make a promo video for that one from Hammerheart. The video they did was really impressive and spectacular though.

Don't know but I have this love/hate relation to One Rode To Asa Bay. Love and hate are very strong words that I wouldn't use for it but those describes my feelings for the song best.

The 10,5 min feels very long sometimes when I listen to it. Also I wouldn't have it as late on the record either. That's my opinion on One Rode To Asa Bay let's move on.

Altogether Hammerheart is an amazing album and my 2nd favorite of the viking records and that's definitely a great rating for it. The highs might be a little better on Hammerheart but I think that Twilight Of The Gods is a much more even record and the best one of all the viking albums Bathory did.

Starting with the 14 min title track Prologue - Twilight of the Gods - Epilogue the sound and production is more refined on this album and it already shows in the opening song. Even if it's a great opener I can hear why it was the ending song of the compilation Jubileum II.

Also I think that Quorthon's vocals has evolved so much for the better on Twilight Of The Gods.

Through Blood By Thunder is another song that appeared on one of the Jubileum albums and is a personal favorite on the album. The 10,5 min Blood And Iron is another one that I really enjoy.

I know that it sounds like I'm repeating myself I'll try and mix it up the text a bit. Under The Runes is a top-3 song on this album amazing guitars on that one. To Enter Your Mountain begins with this Folk music feeling to it and guess what? I think it's a great song even if I know some don't like that particular one.

Bond Of Blood has a very interesting story behind it. That one was recorded as In Nomine Satanas in 1987 and that version wasn't released until Jubileum Volume III (1998). The lyrics are of course way different from each other. Both versions are great but I do prefer Bond Of Blood slightly more maybe because I heard it for so long before on Jubileum II in 1995. It's in my- top 3 songs on this record.

The song Hammerheart that confusingly appears on Twilight Of The Gods does really stand out on the record because it's so different from the other material. It took me many listens before I learned to like that one but when I did it's a really great song.

That's my opinions on Hammerheart and Twilight Of The Gods two brilliant records that should belong in any serious collection. I don't know many who prefer Twilight Of The Gods over Hammerheart but if you're one of them feel free to leave me a comment.

I'll do post II about Blood On Ice (1996); Nordland I (2002) and Nordland II (2003) soon. Usually don't do the same band two times in a row so we'll what I post next.

CARCASS - NECROTICISM - DESCANTING THE INSALUBRIOUS (1991)

This classic Death Metal gem on a Full Dynamic Range vinyl reissue from 2017 on Earache. Bought this last year don't know if every copy has switched A and B-labels of this LP? Because mine have that.

Back in the early 90’s whenever Headbanger’s Ball would show the videos for the songs Incarnated Solvent Abuse and Corporal Jigsore Quandary I really liked them. So much that I recorded both those 2 songs on a VHS-tape along with other Death and Thrash Metal bands at the time. But whenever I listened to the Necroticism album at one of my local record stores, on numerous occasions also, it never convinced me to buy it.

Carcass weren’t like the other Death Metal bands I enjoyed at the time Dismember, Morbid Angel, Entombed, Unleashed etc. Actually it wasn’t probably until late 90’s/early 2000 that I picked up Necroticism on CD and finally understood what everyone else already knew years ago.

Carcass added a second guitarist next to Bill Steer during the 2nd part of the 1990 tour for their previous album Symphonies Of Sickness (1989). That guy was Michael Amott from the amazing Swedish Death Metal band Carnage. He was involved in the music writing of both Incarnated Solvent Abuse and Corporal Jigsore Quandary the later one a collaboration with Bill Steer and drummer Ken Owen.

However their main music writer for the album was Bill Steer, even if drummer Ken Owen also wrote contributed music to 3 songs and vocalist/bassist Jeff Walker wrote all the lyrics. They recorded the album with producer Colin Richardson (Bolt Thrower, Gorefest, Fear Factory etc).

The first album by Carcass I bought was Heartwork (1993) although how brilliant that one is and I’ve listened to it literary to death. I find myself leaning more and more nowadays towards Necroticism whenever I need my Carcass fix.

Witnessed them live about 3 weeks ago at a festival and they were great. For my taste there were a bit to many songs from Surgical Steel (2013). There’s so many songs from Necroticism I wanted them to play like: Carneous Cacoffiny; Symposium of Sickness; Inpropagation etc. but I was still pleased with their performance.

Anyway Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious is a timeless classic Death Metal album that everyone should own!

DISMEMBER - SKIN HER ALIVE (1991) + Dismember interview Metal Hammer 1991

7" picture disc vinyl of Dismember the 2 song single Skin Her Alive released in September of 1991 on Nuclear Blast. This was released 4 months after their debut masterpiece Like An Everflowing Stream (1991).

Also included the very first Dismember interview I ever read from Metal Hammer Extra Thrash issue 3/1991. A magazine that my older sister bought back in the day but gave it to me. I scanned it so you can read it here (see further down). Not in mint condition, was about 12 years old when I got my grubby hands on it.

Also scanned interviews with Entombed, Carcass, Tiamat, Grave, Pestilence, Cannibal Corpse, Slayer, article about the Swedish Death Metal scene at the time. Plus a bunch of more bands from the same magazine like Sepultura, Pungent Stench, Coroner, Benediction, Massacre. Gorefest, Type O Negative, Cathedral, Massacra etc. Might post them here if there's any interest?

Thanks to the stupid fucking young me it's missing 1 of the 2 pages in a Kreator interview... Have done the same thing with other magazines from around that period with articles of Dismember, Morbid Angel and Entombed. Getting posters of Death Metal bands wasn't easy at the time so one did moronic things like that.

Anyway the 2 songs on this 7” single is of course the title track Skin Her Alive and Defective Decay. Which is a song that doesn't appear on the 8 song first print vinyl release of Like An Everflowing Stream. But it's one of two bonus tracks on the original Nuclear Blast CD release.

Defective Decay is an old song that appeared way back on the first ever Dismember demo Dismembered from 1988. Dismember only had 3 members then Fred Estby (drums), David Blomqvist (guitar) and with future rhythm guitarist Robert Sennebäck on vocals. Nicke Andersson of Entombed played session bass on that demo.

About the song Skin Her Alive lyrics, they were very controversial at the time. So much that both  Dismember and their UK distributor Plastic Head ended up in court in England for “charges of obscenity” in July of 1992. It didn’t lead to anything other then Dismember getting a lot of free promotion. Even I remember reading about the fuss around it at the time thinking it was cool that this Swedish Death Metal band got this kind of attention.

The whole thing at least gave inspiration to the title for the follow-up album Indecent And Obscene (1993) because that's what a UK newspaper described Dismember as.

Vocalist Matti Kärki actually wrote the lyrics to Skin Her Alive based on an actual murder. When one of his crazy neighbor actually killed the wife/girlfriend. The lyrics are written through the eyes of the killer. Highly recommend reading the Swedish Death Metal book from 2008 by Daniel Ekeroth where he writes more about this whole mess.

Actually wrote about Dismember and the lyrics to Skin Her Alive for a English assignment in school when I was about 14 years old in 1994. Also shocked a few classmates with a Swedish translation of Life Demise by Unanimated one year later. But it was a cool teacher though and he knew I was into some "weird metal".

Really like this 7” picture disc vinyl and the cover artwork is amazing. Definitely a cool release if you're a Dismember or Death Meta fan!!