MARDUK - INFERNAL ETERNAL (2000)

First print double picture disc vinyl limited to 500 copies that comes with a gatefold cover sleeve released on Blooddawn Productions/Regain Records.

When Infernal Eternal was released in the year 2000 got to admit that I was a bit hesitant about it. Sure I bought the 2-CD immediately at the release. Just felt that Marduk could’ve waited somewhat longer then the 3 years between this one and the Live In Germania (1997) record.

Nowadays I’m glad that Marduk released this album. Have always preferred the Live In Germania record however since getting this Infernal Eternal LP release a few month ago whenever I listen to it now I think that it’s better. But vice versa whenever I listen to Live In Germania...

Have much more nostalgia with that record of drinking beer with my friends in the summer of 1997 and being 17 years old and the only care in the world was music and drinking alcohol with my friends. While in the year 2000 being 20 years old and having a lot more "responsibility" with work.

My favorite Marduk live album is Warschau (2005) when Mortuus had joined and Devo returned.

At the time of the Infernal Eternal release I had also been somewhat disappointed with a few Marduk releases. Absolutely NOT bad because I don't Marduk can or ever will be that. The album Nightwing (1998) and both the EP’s Glorification (1996) and Obedience (2000) was far from as excellent then take instance Opus Nocturne (1994) or Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered (1996) and all others before them.

Really like the songs they chose for Infernal Eternal altogether 18 songs that was recorded in France during the The World Panzer Battle Tour. Five from the Panzer Division Marduk (1999) but also classic songs like The Sun Turns Black As Night; Those Of The Unlight; Burn My Coffin; Still Fucking Dead; Departure From The Mortals; On Darkened Wings etc.

It sounds great and all musicians and Legion's vocals are top notch. My only complaint is that it would've been great with some more songs from Opus Nocturne then just two (Materialized In Stone and Sulphur Souls). Also only one from the Heaven Shall Burn... album (Legion) but there's five of those on the Live In Germania record. I'm just glad that they chose that many songs from both of the Dark Endless (1992) and Those Of The Unlight (1993) albums.

One could fuss about some of the song choices like the cover of the Celtic Frost classic Into The Crypts Of Rays their live cover is alright but I rather hear another Marduk song. Sure that it's not often that Dreams Of Blood And Iron from Nightwing is performed live and it's a good song. But there's so many others I would've preferred over that one. Like the title track Nightwing of that same album.

Or some other personal favorites could've been included like:
The Sun Has Failed
Darkness Breeds Immortality
A Sculpture Of The Night
From Subterranean Throne Profound
The Black Tormentor Of Satan
Glorification Of The Black God etc. but that's just minor details.

If I was to look at this record not as the diehard Marduk fan that I truly am I still think that Infernal Eternal is an excellent live album. It should appeal to anyone who's into them, even casual fans but especially if you're into the "Legion era" of the band.

But also if you're just looking for a great live Black Metal album you can't go wrong with this one. All in all a great buy and of course even better on vinyl.

And my end signature is as always Praise Hail Marduk!!

TWO MARDUK VINYL EP'S

Iron Dawn from 2012 on a single sided white 12” vinyl limited to 300 copies released by Century Media/Blooddawn Productions.

First out one of the best EP releases of this century Iron Dawn. It "only" have 3 songs but fucking hell are they amazing! As far as I know exclusive to the Iron Dawn release, they might appear on some reissue. That I’m not aware about?

Would even go so far and to say it’s the best EP that Marduk have released since 1997 with Here’s No Peace (recorded in December 1991 though) on Shadow Records and probably my 3rd favorite EP by Marduk of all time.

The war theme is very present on this EP and the layout and design is amazing on this release. I like the CD version also but it's so much more impressive on a 12" vinyl sleeve version. Titles like Warschau 2: Headhunter Halfmoon, Wacht Am Rhein: Drumbeats of Death & Prochorovka: Blood and Sunflowers. Both the first and the last songs were played live in 2011.

This was also the first Marduk EP in 7 years since another brilliant one Deathmarch (2004). It was well worth the time to wait when they produced such a brilliant EP as this one.

Hearse on a 7” vinyl from 2003 limited to 500 copies released on Regain Records.

This 2-song 7" EP  was released before what would become the last full length Marduk album with new material to feature former vocalist Legion and longtime bassist B.War World Funeral (2003).

Besides the title track Hearse which they also made a promo video for, Marduk also did a cover of Phantasm by Possessed. That appeared on their gem of an album Beyond The Gates (1986).

I really think that the Iron Dawn EP should please anyone into Marduk or Black Metal also. While the Hearse EP is more for diehard fans like me of this Swedish Black Metal War Machine.

And as always Praise Hail Marduk!!

MARDUK - PANZER DIVISION LIVE (2018) Tank Shaped EP

Limited and handnumbered to 500 copies. Released on Blooddawn Productions and made by the Italian label Night Of The Vinyl Dead Records.

Once again I have all the official Marduk EP’s because I finally got a "good deal" on the Panzer Division Live tank shaped vinyl EP. By owning every EP I mean every release. Not every print version they have ever released of them. You should know I’m crazy but not that crazy!

The EP have 2 songs Panzer Division Marduk & Baptism By Fire recorded live in Hamburg, Germany 1999. Those songs have been available on various Marduk releases already. Like the box set Blackcrowned (2002) on the CD’s and also on the VHS that's included in that box.

They also appear on 2 of the 4 Blackcrowned vinyls from 2002, the standalone Blackcrowned DVD released in 2005 and the official live bootleg album World Panzer Battle 1999 from 2015.

My guess is that people mostly bought this tank shaped EP as a display piece because of its very unique design. I don’t care about devaluing it and put the whole thing together.

Because it’s NOT leaving my Marduk collection! It’s meant to be displayed for me and everyone else viewing pleasure that dares enter my domain. Also got it because I want every Marduk EP they’ve ever release.

As far as I know it was sold exclusively through the Nuclear Blast onlinstore and although I’m subscribed to their newsletter I completely missed this EP when it was released. It had been announced on the official Marduk Facebook page. They should’ve announced it on Instagram and/or their official website. Who the hell uses Facebook? Fuck that shit!

Anyway I'm really glad to finally have it in my collection although it would’ve been great with some more exclusive songs. 2 songs recorded live from the Frontschwein (2015) album would have been really enjoyable. Even if I didn’t buy the EP mainly for its music.

Even if I got the EP for about 150 SEK cheaper then for what it sells for on Discogs (with shipping within Sweden) I wasn’t willing to be patience and wait out another better deal. Who knows maybe the Panzer Division Live EP will be cheaper in the future? But I wasn't willing to take the risk it getting even higher then it already is going for nowadays.

And as always Praise Hail Marduk!!

MARDUK - PANZER DIVISION MARDUK (1999)

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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!!

MARDUK - LA GRANDE DANSE MACABRE (2001)

On a first print vinyl limited to 1000 copies on Blooddawn Productions/Regain Records. I also included the original CD release because I think the vinyl release have so much better artwork and also the classic Marduk logo. Of the 13 (soon 14) full length studio albums Marduk have made La Grande Danse Macabre is my least favorite. But by Marduk standard that's better then MANY other bands!

They had set such a high standard with their previous album Panzer Division Marduk (1999) so La Grande Danse Macabre had a huge task trying to follow that. Still there’s great songs on this record and is worth getting for the brilliant song Azrael alone but also Jesus Christ... Sodomized.

La Grande Danse Macabre starts off the album with the 2 min with a great instrumental intro song Ars Moriendi. It continues with the already mentioned Azrael  I don’t understand why the 3rd song is another 2.5 min instrumental piece called Pompa Funebris 1660 even if it’s a good one it slows down the flow of the album.

Obedience Until Death is good but nothing special. The next the 7 minutes song Bonds Of Unholy Matrimony has many great passages but could've been better had it been shorter. Death Sex Ejaculation also ends very well. The 8 min title track La Grande Danse Macabre is the most disappointing one. It actually have a verse written with Swedish lyrics.

Then something weird Funeral Bitch was amazing on the EP Obedience (2000) the album version isn't close to the filthy and intense sound it had 15 months before on the EP. Summer's End has some great guitar playing by Mogge but it feels out of place on this record. The last song on the album however Jesus Christ... Sodomized is a great Marduk song so at least it ends on a strong note.

The production is the weakest Marduk ever had on a full length album. HOWEVER an album is only as good as its songs and it's there they fail at most. Even if it was evident that Marduk needed to make huge changes they still did the amazing World Funeral (2003) in The Abyss Studio.

Remember when I bought this album back in 2001 and it didn't many times because my criticism of it 17 years ago was even harder. There’s probably people who discovered the band with La Grande Danse Macabre or even have it as their favorite Marduk album. I do appreciate this album much more nowadays and you got to understand that the scene was completely different back in 2001. I had been listening to Black Metal since 1994 and during those 7 years there had been so many timeless classic albums so my expectations on Marduk were high to say the least.

I've really been negative throughout the entire post but still I wouldn't have gotten it on vinyl if I didn't think it have some redeemable quality to it. The term "vinyl worthy" is something I often use whenever I purchase a vinyl. In my entire collection of Black/Death/Thrash Metal or any other music for that matter. It's one of my rules otherwise I would be happy just to have something on an old CD that I bought back in the day. Then to track down a first print or reissue vinyl because I only want quality records in my LP collection.

Really wish that longtime drummer Fredrik Andersson (1993-2002) had gotten a better album to leave the band with. However he will always be my favorite Marduk drummer.

I still think you should make up your own mind on La Grande Danse Macabre and as always praise hail Marduk!!

Promo ad for the album I scanned from a magazine I own and some other interesting records.

MARDUK - WORLD FUNERAL (2003)

On a first print vinyl limited to 1500 copies released on Blooddawn Productions in 2003. World Funeral became the last album to feature longtime bassist B. War who played with Marduk since 1992. It also was vocalist Legion final album with the band after joining in 1995.

It also became the last Marduk album to be recorded with Peter Tägtgren in his The Abyss Studio where they recorded 5 albums. This was Emil Dragutinović (The Legion and Nominon) first record with the band as a drummer after joining the band in 2002. Replacing my favorite Marduk drummer of all time Fredrik Andersson who played in the band for 9 years.

Despite me ranking this their 11th best album (3rd to last) it’s still an amazing record, maybe their most underrated record in my opinion. It’s much better then the previous La Grande Danse Macabre (2001) in my opinion. There’s so many great songs on this one With Satan And Victorious Weapons; Bleached Bones; Hearse; To The Death’s Head True; Blessed Unholy; Night Of The Long Knives and probably my favorite song on the album Cloven Hoof.

Another one worth mentioning is the instrumental Blackcrowned which is a rendition of the song The Queen's Funeral March (Procession) by Henry Purcell. That’s featured in one of my top-10 movies of all time A Clockwork Orange (1971) by director genius Stanley Kubrick.

They also use a sample from the horror movie Phantasm (1978) for the song Hearse with the opening part saying "the funeral is about to begin, sir!". Also on With Satan And Victorious Weapons they use a sample from the movie this time The Name Of The Rose (1986). 

Although I really like the song World Funeral it wouldn’t be my choice for a promo video like they did. They had also done a video for the song Hearse that was also the title track of an EP with the same name that Marduk released in 2003 before the album. The cover artwork to World Funeral is one of the more boring ones in their discography, it's not terrible but not very interesting either.

I know Legion got criticized about his capabilities as vocalist both by fans and media especially at live performances. I think he did a great job both onstage and on records. However it was time for a change in Marduk. 

Even if Panzer Division Marduk (1999) was brilliant in every way. Both albums Nightwing (1998) and La Grande Danse Macabre (2001) although not bad, they were my least favorite albums. Even if I just named a bunch of amazing songs of the great World Funeral album they needed new blood. Both in the band and a new studio/producer to record with.

They certainly got that with Arioch/Mortuus from Funeral Mist on vocals and returning bassist Devo Andersson’s Endarker Studio. But I will always appreciate what Legion and B. War provided to Marduk during many great years of working in the band and I highly recommend the World Funeral album.

And as always praise hail Marduk!!

A 2003 promo ad for the album I scanned from a magazine
I've been subscribed to since 1994.

MARDUK - HEAVEN SHALL BURN... WHEN WE ARE GATHERED (1996)

I've been listening very much to Marduk lately so be prepared for lots of more vinyl posts about them coming up. This is my picture disc vinyl that was released on Shadow Records in 1997. Marduk knew Marcus Tena the owner of Shadow Records very well, he was also bassist in the amazing band Triumphator with future Marduk vocalist Arioch/Mortuus. Marduk released their 1991 December recording EP Here’s No Peace (1997) on his label the same year as this picture vinyl.

Don't know why they left out the Shadow Records logo on this release?  I'm not entirely sure how many copies of this vinyl were printed. I heard everything from 300 to 500 to even 1000 copies. Please leave a comment if you know! Also the CD is the original Osmose Productions release from June 1996 when this amazing record first was released further down the post.

The great album title appears in the lyrics of one my top-5 favorite Bathory songs ever Dies Irae from the album Blood Fire Death (1988). It's also in the best part of the entire song.

"Hear our master calling us his children
Eternal life is given death withdrawn
As wolves among sheep we have wandered
Victory lies beyond their spit and scorn
Even the heavens shall burn when we are gathered
Now when the flames reach for the sky"

Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered was the first Marduk album to feature the new vocalist Erik "Legion" Hagstedt. Previously vocalist in the amazing Swedish Black Metal band Ophthalamia were he once replaced Jon Nödtveidt of Dissection on vocals. He also appear on their 2nd album the brilliant Via Dolorosa (1995) and also on 3 rehearsal tracks from 1994 on their compilation album To Elishia (1997).

This was also the first Marduk album to be recorded with Peter Tägtgren at his The Abyss Studio and it sounds great. Peter Tägtgren was also a second guitar player in Marduk next to Morgan Håkansson on the Heaven Shall Burn Tour 96 and appears on the "Live In Germania" (1997) album.

I’ll admit that when Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered was released in the summer of 1996 I was a bit disappointed. It was only because their previous releases were so fucking brilliant. I had my expectations set extremely high because some of the best CD’s I had in my collection was indeed Opus Nocturne (1994); Those Of The Unlight (1993) and Fuck Me Jesus (1994) that I consider to be the 3 best Marduk releases of all time.

However once I realized Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered full potential it blew my mind. It had so many brilliant songs, I could literally mention all of them. There’s not a bad second on it just 35 minutes of pure fucking Marduk mayhem!

It has one of the ugliest album cover artworks in the whole Marduk discography I mean Dark Endless was ugly but this one is worse. It looks like something from a budget 90's video game, but it still got a certain charm to it and I like the use of the colors. And I do prefer the original artwork over the one that was used on the reissues released in the 2000's on Regain Records and Blooddawn Production.

Tony Särkkä aka. It (1972-2017) of Abruptum, Ophthalamia etc. wrote the lyrics for 2 of the songs Darkness It Shall Be and Dracul Va Domni Din Nou In Transilvania. Marduk actually played the entire Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered album from start to finish first in their hometown of Norrköping in December 2016. Then in their live setlist on a few selected gigs during their 2017 tour as a 20th Anniversary of its release.

I been listening also watching DVD's of Marduk very much in the recent months especially the "Legion era" even if I prefer the albums released before him joining and the "Mortuus era". But that's not saying that the records released with Legion are bad but it's been quit an eyeopener even if I've listened to Marduk for 23 years since 1994. About a year ago when I ranked all the 13 Marduk full length albums it was an extremely tough choice between Heaven Shall Burn...; Dark Endless (1992) and Wormwood (2009) for the number 10-8 spots.

I should have put Heaven Shall Burn... even higher then that I think now but remember Marduk's discography is a very strong one. I still stand behind most of my other choices on that list and it reflects my opinion about their records. I might update the list once their new album Viktoria (release July 22nd) has been out for some time and I have formed my opinion on that album.
Until then listen to this masterpiece!

A Osmose Productions promo ad from 1996 for “Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered” that I scanned from a magazine I own. This ad wasn’t necessary for me in order to buy the album.

MY MARDUK EP COLLECTION

Have done an update of some of these ones that I've gotten on vinyl. Like the Panzer Division Live (2018) tank shaped EP, Hearse on 7" and Iron Dawn on a single sided 12" vinyl.

Marduk is one of my favorite bands of all time and this’s my Marduk EP collection, by far not the biggest, but I have every release I do believe. But clearly NOT every LP and CD print there’s of each and every one.

Recently Marduk released a digital single and a promo lyrics video for the song Werwolf from their upcoming Viktoria album that will be released on July 22nd. Really wish Werwolf was on any physical format but what can one do in this fucking digital streaming age...

In the order of release:

Fuck Me Jesus MCD 1994 and 12” LP 2017 both Osmose Productions
This is their 1991 demo with the same name that Osmose Productions released on CD in 1994. It's been reissued many times and I hear why. Because it's absolutely amazing! This was the 3rd Marduk release I ever bought after discovering the band in 1994. Although I have a lot of nostalgia for the recording I must say it's my favorite Marduk EP of all time.

Brilliant sounding and recorded with Dan Swanö. If I was to put Fuck Me Jesus among their albums this 12 min 40 sec masterpiece would be number 3 after Opus Nocturne and Those of the Unlight. It's that excellent!

Glorification MCD 1996 Osmose Productions
This basically has another mix of the song Glorification of the Black God from the Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered (1996) album. I don't notice anything mayor change from the album version although it's 10 seconds longer on the EP and 4 cover of Destruction, Bathory and 2 songs by Piledriver. The 1996 vinyl release also has a Venom cover.
It's a good EP even if the songs they chose to cover like The Return of Darkness & Evil and Total Desaster are so much better in their original versions. I don't think Marduk are bad at doing covers and if your a big Marduk fan like me I can recommend it. But for a more casual fan there's better EP's coming up.

Here’s No Peace MCD 1997 Shadow Records
This was recorded in December of 1991 with Dan Swanö. I have heard different reasons why the planned 7" vinyl wasn't released in the early 90's. Anyway this has an intro Here's No Peace and 2 songs Still Fucking Dead and Within The Abyss only 7.5 min but still all so brilliant. I prefer the Fuck Me Jesus release but these early recordings in Unisound Studios (aka. Hellspawn or Gorysound Studios) are so amazing.
Although I really like their great debut album Dark Endless (1992) I think that the 2 recordings before that one really captures Marduk's sound better. They sound much more raw, filthy and nasty in my ears. Needless to say this's a must have EP if you are into Black Metal!

Obedience MCD 2000 Blooddawn Productions
With a silver printed Marduk logo on the front of the jewel case. I have to admit when I got this at some record fair in my hometown 2000/01(?) it didn't blow me away but with time I really appreciate it. Obedience is a great song, but even better is the song Funeral Bitch and it's so much better on this EP then on the album La Grande Danse Macabre (2001). They should consider playing it more often in their live setlist I think, last time was in 2007 according to setlist.fm.
Then a cover Into The Crypts Of Rays by Celtic Frost the original song I think is one the best song ever by Celtic Frost and Marduk does an acceptable version of that classic Black Metal tune.

Slay The Nazarene vinyl 7” 2002 Warlord Records limited to 1500 copies
A sort of oddball release it has 2 live songs both appears on the 1998 album "Nightwing" Slay The Nazarene and Of Hell's Fire. It almost feels like a bootleg even if it sounds great and is listed as an official release at their official homepage, Discogs and at Metal Archives also that it's licensed by Blooddawn Productions (record label founded by Marduk).
Both songs are the best from the then 4 year old Nightwing album it doesn't say when or where they were recorded. I like it but this is only a necessary release for die-hard Marduk fans in my opinion.

Hearse vinyl 7"  Regain Records limited to 500 copies
The title track is a teaser for what became vocalist Legion and bassist B.War last album World Funeral (2003). It's a great song and the band also made a promo video for it. Only one more song on this MCD a cover of Phantasm by Possessed it's good.
Hearse is why I bought the MCD but with only 2 songs it feels kind of hard to recommend it to anyone that's not a huge Marduk fan.

Deathmarch Tour EP MCD 2004 Blooddawn Productions
This was sold exclusively on the Deathmarch tour 04/05. With new vocalist Arioch from Funeral Mist or Mortuus as he's known as in Marduk and returning member Devo Andersson on bass (previously guitar 1992-1994). It has a "alternative version" of the amazing song Steel Inferno that appears on the Plague Angel (2004) album.
An unreleased instrumental song called Tod Und Vernichtung which is German for "death and annihilation" in my opinion it's worth to get the EP just for that song. Also 2 rehearsal songs Throne Of Rats and The Hangman of Prague that I as a huge Marduk fan really like that they included, maybe not for everyone. Still I highly recommend this EP.

Iron Dawn vinyl 12" limited to 300 copies 2011 Blooddawn Productions/Century Media
It took Marduk 7 fucking years to release another EP. But when they finally did it was well worth the wait. I can definitely say that this is a brilliant release! 3 unreleased songs that as far I know only appears on this EP: Warschau 2: Headhunter Halfmoon; Wacht am Rhein: Drumbeats of Death and Prochorovka: Blood and Sunflowers.
All songs are played furiously fast and the war theme is very present on this release. Both songs Warschau 2 and Prochorovka was played on the Hatefest 2011 Tour and the first one of the two songs occasionally on the Serpent Sermon World Tour 2012. This is the best Marduk EP in my opinion since the Here’s No Peace released 14 years earlier. It should appeal to anyone that likes Marduk. 13 minutes well spent listening to this great EP.

Souls For Belial MCD 2012 Century Media/Blooddawn Productions
Released to subscribers of Sweden Rock Magazine #94 in April as a teaser for the then upcoming album Serpent Sermon (2012). The song Souls For Belial is great and there's a cover of Oil On Panel by the alternative country band Woven Hand a rather odd choice but I like it. Might not be for everyone this EP but in my opinion it's worth it just for like I wrote the odd cover.

Coram Satanae 7” vinyl 2012 Century Media/Blooddawn Productions
This singled sided 7 inch vinyl only have the Coram Satanae song but it's still worth every penny. Because it's one of my favorite songs Marduk have done since Mortuus joined and that says a lot because they have released so many great tracks in the last 14 years.
Coram Satanae also appears on one limited red vinyl version of Serpent Sermon (2012) as a red bonus 7" but also on two limited CD releases. Anyway if you don't have it on one of your albums this is the only way to have it and I promise you wont be disappointed.

Ancient Evil 7”vinyl 2015 Blooddawn Productions 500 copies hand numbered
Apart of the 4 "official bootleg series" that was released 2015. This one is a live recording from November of 1991. It has 4 songs Departure from the Mortals; Within The Abyss; Still Fucking Dead and The Black Goat (as it was called back then, later The Black...).
This sound probably amazing to everyone but remember that this's a bootleg recording I'm used to these kind of recordings with VHS trading of Black and Death Metal concerts in the 90's so the sound is far from perfect. I don't mind it but if you're unsure listen to it first. I really like this one!

The Sun Turns Black As Night 7”vinyl 2015 Blooddawn 500 copies hand numbered
Unlike the previous one this is recorded in May of 1992 and only have 2 songs Still Fucking Dead and Within the Abyss. Like I wrote about "Ancient Evil" this appeals to me but maybe not a casual Marduk fans. I'm very happy with it and wish for more releases like this from Marduk especially ones from 1994-95 would be amazing.

Panzer Division Live 7" vinyl 2018 Night Of The Vinyl Dead Records / Blooddawn Productions limited to 500 copies and hand numbered.

Finally got a "deal" on this unique shaped tank EP with the sleeve acting as background. Mostly bought it as a display piece and of course because I consider myself to be a Marduk collector I also wanted to own it for that reason.
The 2 songs Panzer Division Marduk and Baptism By Fire are old live recordings from Germany in 1999. Both have been released as early as 2002 on the Blackcrowned boxset, they appear on both the CD's and the VHS. Also on the standalone Blackcrowned  LP's from 2002 and the DVD from 2005 and the official bootleg live album World Panzer Battle 1999 from 2015. It would've been nice with some more uncommon songs or recording but the value of it is in the design that I proudly display at my home. Only for die hard Marduk fans!


There's a bunch of different versions/prints also reissues of almost all of these releases with all sorts of bonus tracks. For instance Obedience the North American release in 2001 had 3 live bonus songs. The reissues from 2007 and 2008 had a terrible cover of the great Rolling Stones song Paint It Black and a good version of Earth A.D. by Misfits both had terrible redone cover artwork. Not every release is like that but many.

I’ve previously ranked all the Marduk full length albums and live records but I’m not going to rank these EP’s it’s too hard. For casual Marduk fans I will say that the most essential releases of all of them are in my opinion Fuck Me Jesus and Here’s No Peace. If you want more I suggest Iron Dawn and Coram Satanae then probably the Deathmarch Tour EP. I like all the others but especially those with Mortuus and the early 90’s recordings.

As you see I only have 5 (well 7 now) on vinyl might try to get those ones that are available on vinyl someday. Some of them are also very expensive, even if I’m in no hurry. Praise hail Marduk!!

RANKING OF ALL 13 MARDUK FULL LENGTH STUDIO ALBUMS

Like the title says I will be ranking all 13 Marduk studio albums today. Ever since I started listening to the Black Metal genre in 1994 Marduk has been one of my all time favorite bands in the scene. Still to this day after playing for 27 years (!!) they still release excellent records.

Published on my Instagram Herr_Perdition in 2 parts the albums ranked 13-7 and 6-1. It's most for fun I could probably change my mind. Okay my two least favorite ones were "easy" to pick out, even if I don't think any of these albums are bad. But there's of course better ones then the others.

However my top-2 albums will probably never change!

The ones ranked 10-7 was really hard to chose on this list. That's when I could change my mind depending on what my mood is on that day and also my 3rd favorite Marduk album.

But on this day the 13th of August 2017 this is my opinion. Since I'm only doing full length studio albums EP's that I would rank very high like the 1991 demo reissued on CD in 1994 Fuck Me Jesus definitely in my top-3 Marduk releases ever. Also the classic Here's No Peace recording from December 91 but not released until 1997 would also rank high.

Will probably never do a list of all their EP's basically because it's too hard. Check out my complete Marduk EP collection (well every release not every print version) over HERE.

Due to the text limitations that Instagram got I'll write more in depth of each and every album here.

13. La Grande Danse Macabre (2001)

First print LP on Blooddawn Productions/Regain Records limited to 1000 copies

Some record had to take the last place it was pretty easy. La Grande Danse Macabre I do like this album it has the brilliant track Azrael. Other great songs like Jesus Christ... Sodomized and Funeral Bitch. Even if I do prefer the Obedience (2000) EP version better of Funeral Bitch. The rest ain't bad but average by Marduk standards.

This was the excellent longtime drummer Fredrik Andersson last album with the band after being a member since 1993. He sure showed his skills on all the records he played on during those years and Fredrik will always be my favorite Marduk drummer.

Read more about the album here.

12. Nightwing (1998)

Reissue LP from 2016 on Osmose Productions

Nightwing have some great songs like my favorites Of Hell's Fire and Slay The Nazarene I also really like the title track Nightwing. The other ones are not on par with those awesome tracks.

Why they re-recorded Deme Quaden Thyrane I don't understand!? It was already perfect on Opus Nocturne 4 year earlier. A very strange decision in my opinion...

Still remember buying Nightwing in 1998 on CD and the bus ride back home mainly because an old friend (who introduced me to Megadeth, Slayer, King Diamond etc.) saw me with the record and he thought Black Metal was ridiculous. I didn't give a shit about his moronic opinions.

However the Nightwing album wasn't played that often back in the day. This one doesn't match the rest of their discography and hasn't aged well either.

Peter Tägtgren recorded some great albums with Marduk and the production was for the most part great. But on Nightwing the guitars are boring and overall the sound and production is very weak in my opinion. I know that some people rate this one much higher in their Marduk "best of albums" ever. Although not bad it's definitely one of my least favorite Marduk records.

11. World Funeral (2003)

First print LP on Blooddawn Production limited to 1500 copies

World Funeral might just be the most underrated album in the entire Marduk discography! Despite the fact that I only rank this album at number 11 and 3rd to last on my list.

This was the last Marduk album to be recorded with Peter Tägtgren as producer in The Abyss Studio. Even more significant the last record to feature B. War on bass after 12 years with the band and vocalist Legion last one after 8 years in Marduk.

Many have different opinions about Legion's performance with the band especially live. I think he did a great job on the albums and most of the time live. Even though I think the band needed a change both musically and their appearance/image, layout and design in order to progress. They sure got it! Already on La Grande Danse Macabre it was very evident that something needed to be "fixed".

World Funeral it's consistently good throughout and it sounds great. The highlight songs on it for me are: With Satan And Victorious Weapons; Bleached Bones; To the Death's Head True; Hearse; Blessed Unholy; Night Of The Long Knives also the instrumental Blackcrowned.

My absolute favorite on the album is Cloven Hoof. I mentioned 8 of the 11 songs so it's certainly an amazing record.

Read more about the album here.

10. Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered (1996)

Shadow Records picture disc LP from 1997 unsure how many copies exists 300-500 (?)

Now I know that this will be a controversial choice! Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered are some peoples favorite Marduk record. I understand why because this one is fucking awesome.

Last year in December 2016 they also performed the entire album in their hometown of Norrköping as a 20th anniversary celebration of its release I guess. During 2017 they actually performed the whole album from start to finish in their live setlist on selective gigs.

This was the first Marduk album to be recorded with Peter Tägtgren in the Abyss Studio and the first one to feature Legion on vocals previously from another brilliant Swedish band Ophthalmia. It sounds awesome and all tracks are great but the ones that stands out most in my opinion are Legion; The Black Tormentor of Satan; Glorification Of The Black God; Darkness It Shall Be; Infernal Eternal and Dracul Va Domni Din Nou In Transilvania.

But I could mention all the songs on the album because that's really how outstanding this is! On another day this would probably rank much higher.

For the tour of this record Peter Tägtgren was actually the 2nd guitar player next to Morgan Håkansson and this tour spawned the great Live In Germania (1997) live album. You can see my ranking of the three Marduk live records on Instagram if you're interested in that.

Read more about the album here.

9. Dark Endless (1992)

2012 LP reissue on Century Media/Blooddawn Production limited to 1500 copies

Guess this is another "controversial" choice. I absolutely think that Dark Endless is a classic album in the genre that everyone should own. But... The production is far from not perfected even if it got an early charm of course.

It's very strange considering their demo Fuck Me Jesus & Here's No Peace also was recorded with Dan Swanö in the Unisound Studio aka. Hellspawn/Gorysound. Those recordings sounds so much more grim and harsh even if the band still had a Blackened Death Metal sound to it.

The record was released on the once great record label No Fashion Records and the album has so many great classic songs like The Black...; Departure from the Mortals; Within the Abyss; Still Fucking Dead (Here's No Peace); The Funeral Seemed To Be Endless; Dark Endless; The Sun Turns Black As Night and Holy Inquisition.

Btw. this is one of the most ugliest cover artwork in Marduk's whole album discography in my opinion. It doesn't look Black Metal at all! It has a sort of Death/Thrash Metal vibe to it. But who the hell cares when the the music is this amazing!

Read more about the album here.

8. Wormwood (2009)

First print LP limited to 700 copies released on Blooddawn Productions

This is a a fantastic album and Wormwood was the 3rd Marduk album to feature my favorite vocalist in the scene Daniel "Mortuus" Rostén (aka. Arioch of Funeral Mist & Triumphator) also this is the first record with Lars Broddesson (2006-13) on drums.

The production in bassist Davo Andersson's Endarker Studio is great and the album starts with the brilliant song Nowhere, No One, Nothing. Other outstanding tracks are Into Utter Madness and the 3 songs that reminds a bit of Funeral Mist: Unclosing the Curse; Chorus of Cracking Necks and Funeral Dawn. Other great ones are Whorecrown and Phosphorous Redeemer and altogether an awesome solid and even record.

As stated earlier Heaven Shall Burn.., Dark Endless and Wormwood was the hardest to rank. All 3 are essential in any serious Black Metal collection!

Read more about the album here.

7. Frontschwein (2015)

First print LP released by Century Media/Blooddawn Productions

Their latest album Frontschwein was released after the band had been together for 25 years. How many bands still deliver the goods after such a long time? Not many!

Maybe Darkthrone is the only band I could compare them with in terms of as many albums released and still being amazing.

Marduk sure is a unique band even if only guitarist Morgan Håkansson is the only remaining founding member since they started in 1990.

Anyway this album is an absolute monster it starts of with the great title track Frontschwein and then the awesome The Blond Beast and Afrika. Other songs I got to mention is Wartheland; Between The Wolf-Packs and 503, but the whole album is a beast and should be played from start to finish.

6. Panzer Division Marduk (1999)

2011 picture disc reissue on Blooddawn Productions

I still remember when I got Panzer Division Marduk on release day and being completely blown away by it. Still have that effect on me after 19 years later. In my opinion the best album of the "Legion era". This was the 3rd studio album with him as frontman.

I think of this as Marduk's love / hate album either you think it's awesome or you might think it's just an album where they only try to play as fast as humanly possible.

Sure one cannot go with what people think about it on Metal Archives but a 66% rating is the lowest of all Marduk full length studio albums. Come on you fucking people...

Nightwing had been I bit of a letdown according to me. On this one Peter Tägtgren and Marduk redeemed themselves with a timeless classic Black Metal album. If I were to name a few favorites songs I think that the title track Panzer Division Marduk has to be mentioned first. It's almost like their anthem song and the most played song live according to setlist.fm, don't know how accurate that is. Nevertheless a classic song.

Other brilliant songs are Baptism By Fire; 502; Fistfucking God's Planet; Christraping Black Metal; Blooddawn and Beast Of Prey. But I could mention every song on this masterpiece.

Read more about the album here,

5. Serpent Sermon (2012)

First print LP on Century Media/Blooddawn Productions

Serpent Sermon was the 4th album that the band recorded with Mortuus and Devo Andersson. Once again Marduk made an amazing record with this one. It's also one of their most balanced and even albums they ever made.

Sure it has excellent standout songs like Souls For Belial; Serpent Sermon; Temple Of Decay; Into Second Death; Messianic Pestilence etc.

It's just a pure pleasure to listen to this one from start to finish and enjoy the perfect production and songwriting. Have no complaints about this one. An extremely underrated album in the Marduk discography in my opinion.

4. Plague Angel (2004)

2018 clear LP reissue on Century Media limited to 300-500 copies (?)

Plague Angel was the first album to feature Mortuus and I think Marduk got a fresh start/reboot.

Considering what Mortuus/Arioch had accomplished with Funeral Mist and Triumphator I cannot think of a better vocalist in Marduk. Also the fact that Devo Andersson (guitarist 1992-94) returned to the band as bass player and been in the band ever since had an impact I believe.

They released Plague Angel just 1 year and 9 months after World Funeral and the band had made a huge progress in that short time.

It's still the same band but the image and music got much more intense. Just compare the promo videos from the 2 mentioned albums.

This was also the first time they used Devo Anderssons's Endarker Studio after 7 years (5 full length studio albums, 2 live albums and 3 EP's) with Peter Tägtgren in his The Abyss Studio.

It's getting really hard to pick favorite songs because this is one hell of an album without any filler material. But Seven Angels, Seven Trumpets; The Hangman Of Prague; Warschau; Throne of Rats; Perish In Flames; Steel Inferno and the collaboration with the excellent Swedish martial industrial ambient band Arditi on Deathmarch also got to be mentioned.

Read more about the album here.

3. Rom 5:12 (2007)

First print picture disc LP released on Blooddawn Production limited to 500 copies

Number 3 on the list this was also a hard choice between Plague Angel and this one but today I will pick Rom 5:12. The second studio album with Mortuus and his contribution is more present on this album then on the previous one I think.

He designed the album layout, he also has a graphic company called Holy Poison. Just like the great designs he made for Funeral Mist is's great to see in Marduk. I recommend getting the original CD release also that comes with a 44-page booklet.

Excellent songs like The Leveling Dust; Cold Mouth Prayer (feat. their former vocalist Joakim Af Gravf); Imago Mortis; Accuser/Opposer (feat. A.A. Nemtheanga on vocals from Primordial); Vanity Of Vanities; Womb of Perishableness and again a Arditi collaboration on the song 1651 are some of the highlights.

I sound like a broken record. but listen to this from start to finish! You'll get the whole experience of this dark artwork so much better that way.

Read more about the album here.

2. Those of the Unlight (1993)

Osmose Productions LP reissue from 2013

Those Of The Unlight was the second Marduk album and the second Marduk album I ever bought in 1994 on CD. An album that shouldn't need any introduction and should be in everyone's collection.

The band had really progressed from their debut and I think Dan Swanö also had grown as a producer. The Blackened Death Metal feeling on their previous Dark Endless was gone and this is just pure Swedish Black Metal magic.

I know this album inside out after listening to it so much in the 90's (and still do). Not one bad second on this record and some of the best ever Marduk songs is on this one. Like Wolves; On Darkened Wings; Burn My Coffin and Those of the Unlight.

I definitely mean ALL the other songs on Those Of The Unlight are Black Metal classics I cannot leave out songs like Darkness Breeds Immortality; A Sculpture Of The Night; Echoes From The Past and Stone Stands Its Silent Vigil. 

In 2013-14 Marduk played the full album from start to finish on some selective gigs as a 20th Anniversary of the albums release

 Although I absolutely think Wolves; On Darkened Wings; Burn My Coffin as some of their best songs it would be great if Darkness Breeds Immortality; A Sculpture Of The Night and Stone Stands Its Silent Vigil could be played more often live in their setlist.

1. Opus Nocturne (1994)

First print LP on Osmose Productions black version limited to 700 copies 

The pick for the number 1 was easy! Opus Nocturne the first Marduk album I ever bought. It has my favorite Marduk track of all times on it Sulphur Souls and my 2nd favorite The Sun Has Failed.

But not just that the production of Dan Swanö in the Unisound Studio is pure perfection. Around this time so many great records had been recorded there (I'm not going to mention any because you should know what masterpieces they are).

About Opus Nocturne I was very new into the Black Metal scene when I got this, I owned In The Nightside Eclipse by Emperor and The Somberlain by Dissection (metal of death yeah I know...).

Before I got these records my favorite bands at the time were Dismember, Morbid Angel, Kreator, Slayer, Entombed, Unleashed, Sepultura etc. So it took me awhile to understand this record just like the Emperor album did.

I immediately liked Materialized In Stone; Sulphur Souls; Opus Nocturne and The Sun Has Failed. After a couple of listens I liked From Subterranean Throne Profound: Autumnal Reaper; Deme Quaden Thyrane and Untrodden Paths (Wolves Part II).

Every song soon became a masterpiece in this "new" genre I was getting into and I would play it nonstop on repeat after understanding it completely.

Some probably think it's my nostalgia talking. Sure that's a factor. But considering Funeral Mist is my favorite band (yes even more then Marduk) my favorite albums by Marduk are still Those Of The Unlight and their grand opus being Opus Nocturne.

This record still stands the test of time it's still sounds fresh every time I listen to it. One of the best records in the whole Black Metal genre of all time. That is for sure!

Read more about the album here

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Update 2019-12-02
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So finally the updated version had begun after the long teasing. I'll definitely publish the new list over here. Haven't decided if it will be episodic like on my new Instagram account Die Warhen Marduk or as it's simply called @herr_marduk.

Anyway if you want a sneak peak at numbers 12 to 14 they can be found over here.

Today 19-12-08 numbers 9 to 11 were added over at my Instagram.


Update January 7th 2019
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The new post with all 14 Marduk albums is finished and will post it someday soon (which can mean 3 days, 3 weeks or 3 months). Since I made this list about 1.5 years ago there is some big changes in my opinion about some of the albums. Like my favorite Legion album! Also a new last place! Alright another spoiler the top-4 is left intact.

Anyway in the meanwhile here's some links to 2 of the 3 Marduk live albums. I do own the Live In Germania (1997) and the 4 so called live official bootlegs albums and 7" releases on LP. Haven't posted those on the blog you can see them all except Live In Germania on my Instagram.

Infernal Eternal (2000)
Warschau (2005)

Update December 6th 2018
---------------------------------
I've done an updated version of all 14 Marduk albums but not posted it yet. Haven't finished all the texts for all the records.

Will probably wait to sometime in 2019 until I post it. Here's some other rankings or top lists of bands and genres. Some are quite outdated I haven't updated every post with the newest album.

Immortal
Unleashed
Dødheimsgard
Abigor
Kreator best songs
My favorite Death Metal albums

Anyway will post the new Marduk list as soon as possible in MMXIX.

Update June 30th 2018
--------------------------------

So I have had this record for 6 days now and it's still way too early for me to have a real perspective on where Viktoria will be on this list eventually. You can read more about my thoughts on it in this Viktoria post that I made.

One day I will update the list don't know when that will be, but one thing I want to say is that I prefer Viktoria over the previous 2015 album Frontschwein. Does this mean that I will put Viktoria as my number 7? Not by default. It might be there? I don't know at the time, but when I made this list almost a year ago I also overrated Frontschwein. 

Also underrated some of them. Something that was discovered when I bought some I only had on CD before upgrading them to vinyls. It also became more evident when I made blog and Instagram posts over @herr_black_metal about them. It really gave me a whole new perspective on MANY albums, not my 2 least favorite or 4 best ones though.

It's not a matter of life and death... But I've noted how many page views this post gets so I want it to be as accurate as possible.


Update May 19th 2018
-------------------------------
I've updated some of the pictures and text. Not changed any of the album order. I still think that the list represents my opinion on Marduk's discography. But I still have the ancient problem to choose between Plague Angel or Rom 5:12 as their 3rd best album.

Also Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered should have been ranked higher. I think that Wormwood and Frontschwein probably should change places. Might redo the list once the new one Viktoria will be released in about 2 months on the 22nd of June. The 2 songs that have been released from it sounds great!