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!!

MARDUK - DARK ENDLESS (1992)

On a vinyl reissue from 2012 limited to 1500 copies released on Century Media/Blooddawn Productions. Originally released on No Fashion Records in December of 1992. Really like this reissue with a booklet of old pictures, logos and the lyrics. Not like my old CD copy from No Fashion Records that's very sparse on content in the booklet to say the least...

As you know this was the debut album by the mighty Marduk. The band started playing in 1990 and recorded their only demo the 5-song Fuck Me Jesus in June 1991 in Gorysound Studios aka. Unisound with Dan Swanö.

The lineup in the Marduk was basically the same on Dark Endless as on their demo but with a second guitar player added Devo Andersson (guitar 1992-94 and bass 2004-present). The founder of the band Morgan Håkansson (guitar) is the only remaining member of the band in its present form.

Joakim "Grave" Göthberg aka. Joakim Af Gravf played drums 1990-93 he later was their vocalist 1993-95. Vocalist on Dark Endless and Fuck Me Jesus was done by Andreas Axelsson (1990-93), at the time he was also guitarist in Edge Of Sanity and on bass they had Richard Kalm (1990-1992).

Before Dark Endless the same lineup had recorded a 3-song EP called Here's No Peace in December of 1991 at Hellspawn Studios (aka. Unisound) with Dan Swanö. I heard several reasons to why it wasn't released as a 7" vinyl at the time it didn't get a release until 1997 when Shadow Records put it out on a MCD.

During 4 days in June of 1992 Marduk for the third time went into the Hellspawn Studios to record the Dark Endless album with Dan Swanö. A total 8 songs was recorded and their first full length album clocks in at 30 minutes.

3 of the songs appears on the "Fuck Me Jesus" demo Within The Abyss; Departure From The Mortals and The Black.... The song Within The Abyss also appears on the Here's No Peace EP as does Still Fucking Dead (Here's No Peace). New for the album was 4 songs The Sun Turns Black as Night; The Funeral Seemed to Be Endless; Dark Endless and Holy Inquisition.

Dark Endless was the 4th release of Marduk that I bought after discovering the band in 1994. It was not easy to find a copy of it, but it was actually in my hometown I eventually found it at that record store who sold used CD, LP VHS etc..

The fact that I had heard Opus Nocturne (1994); Those Of The Unlight (1993) and the Fuck Me Jesus demo that Osmose Productions released on a MCD in 1994. Also other Black Metal bands too many to mention. So it made my first experience with Dark Endless was a bit underwhelming.

But DON'T get me wrong its a excellent debut album!! I just thought the production and sound on the album wasn't as raw and harsh like the one on Fuck Me Jesus had. I still to this day prefer the 3 songs on the demo of Within The Abyss; Departure From The Mortals and The Black.... over the Dark Endless versions.

Also the the version of Still Fucking Dead and the second version of Within The Abyss from the Here's No Peace EP is better then the Dark Endless ones. It might sound like I'm very critic of the debut album but like I wrote it's an excellent album. Its great throughout and not a bad moment on it.

The only minor gripe I got with it is the cover artwork. It's not terrible and it got a certain charm to it but looks like a Death Metal record. And doesn't look anything like the early Norwegian Black Metal releases like Burzum; A Blaze in the Northern Sky or Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism.

If I had discovered Black Metal and Marduk in 1992/93 and Dark Endless had been one of the first albums I bought in the scene I would have been absolutely blown away by its excellency. But then again I do think it's a excellent record now and that's what is most important not what the 15-16 year old me thought something like 23 years ago.

And as always Praise Hail Marduk!!

ALLEGIANCE X 3

The first Allegiance song I ever heard was A Dawn For Steel Unsheathed from the demo “Odin Äge Er Alle” (1993). It was on a compilation CD that came with the autumn issue of Close-Up Magazine #12 in 1994 a Swedish Metal magazine that I had just started subscribing to.

The Marduk members Roger “B-War/Bogge” Svensson (lead vocals/guitar, later bass) and Fredrik Andersson (drums) are both original members of Allegiance and appears on all 5 demos and 3 albums. Other notable members in Allegiance during the years are Devo Andersson from Marduk was vocalist/guitarist in Allegiance from 1990 to 1993. Also L-G Petrov aka. Drutten (Entombed, ex Morbid) were their vocalist in 1989 the year they started when they played Death Metal. Later the band changed into play Black Metal with the Pagan/Viking titles and lyrics.

The debut “Hymn Till Hangagud” (1996) was recorded with Dan Swanö in his Unisound Studio during the Julyof 1995 and like always Dan Swanö's studio was the best place to record in Sweden. It was released by No Fashion Records in 1996 and I bought almost every release from that amazing Swedish record label at the time without.

All 3 Allegiance records was released by No Fashion Records during 1996-99. It was the first album by Allegiance I ever bought and it’s still my favorite out of all their 3 albums. Some might think nostalgia plays a huge part in me thinking that it's their best album. But it's that great! It's probably their most known album if someone owns a Allegiance record it's usually “Hymn Till Hangagud” they have in their collection. Before being signed to No Fashion Records the band had released 5 demos. It wasn't until the 4th one the already mentioned “Odin Äge Er Alle” that the band started to play Black Metal and adopt the Viking/Pagan lyrics. Beside Bogge and Fredrik Andersson they have Mikael Almgren on bass, Pär Thornell plays guitar and he also wrote 4 of the lyrics for the album. While Bogge wrote 3 of them and Fredrik wrote 1 of the lyrics. Anyway this is a great album one that have a place in Swedish Black Metal history at least in my book as one says. Or my bookshelf rather where I keep all my CD's.

The follow-up record “Blodörnsoffer” was released just 1 year after the debut in 1997. It's my 2nd favorite Allegiance records and it's criminally underrated. I've heard people not even liking this one and I don't understand why? It's not that far behind “Hymn Till Hangagud” in terms of quality in my opinion.

For this album the band decided to record with Peter Tägtgren in his The Abyss Studio during October and November in 1996. Other bands had started to record in The Abyss Studio like Marduk, Dark Funeral, Setherial and many more abandoned Unisound. Probably 95% of the time I prefer a Dan Swanö recording over a Peter Tägtgren one and while I do prefer “Hymn Till Hangagud” over “Blodörnsoffer” I think it sounds phenomenal. I'm not a knocking Peter he has done a lot of other amazing recordings. Anyway for this album the band had the same lineup as on the debut. The whole band gets credit for the music writing but the lyrics was written by Bogge this time. It's still in the same vein of their debut the band plays furious Black Metal it's nothing like say for instance Enslaved or Borknagar from Norway were the music has a much more Pagan/Norse Metal spirit to it. Sure that Allegiance have some passages/elements in some of the songs that could be labeled that. But it's not something I think you should expect from neither of their 2 first albums.

Their 3rd and last album "Vrede" was released in 1999. I remember being quite disappointed when I listened to it at one of the record stores in my hometown. That's why I only have a promo CD of it that I decided to buy at a record fair I visited for a much lower cost probably in 2000/01(?). But I was clearly wrong about this record because this is a great record. 

They don't play as furiously as on the 2 previous ones sure there's still fast songs on it but they focus more on atmosphere and even include some Progressive elements to the songs. Once again they recorded with Peter in The Abyss studio. For this one they play as a trio since their bassist Mikael Almgren decided to leave the band. Bogge plays bass on the record instead besides singing and Pär Thornell does all the guitars.Even if I rate this as this 3rd best record out of 3, I don't want to say worst, because it's a great album. Definitely a great record for the band to release as their last one. Even if they released a best of compilation in 2002 called “Hymns Of Blood” with songs from all 3 records. I would really like to see Allegiance return but it’s been 19 years since “Vrede” so my hopes aren’t high for that happening.

However it would be great if they decided to released a demo compilation album. Sadly none of Allegiance records have been released on vinyl. I highly recommend all 3 albums and preferably listen to them in chronological order if you’re unfamiliar with the band.

Praise hail Allegiance!