Marduk – Memento Mori
Reviewed By: Dennis van ‘t Hoofd
Review Score: 8.5
On their fifteenth studio album Memento Mori Sweden’s black metal forerunners Marduk explore
the understanding of death in medieval and baroque times. Memento Mori means ‘Remember that
you must die’ in Latin and is a reminder of our mortality. It has inspired artists in funerary art and
architecture throughout the ages. Skulls, bones, extinguished candles, flowers and hourglasses or
clocks are common elements you can find in Memento Mori art. Even though Memento Mori is not
a concept album, it is themed around the inevitability of death and the futility of life, as portrayed in
the lyrics of the title track for example, where singer Mortuus sings about celebrating your one birth-
right that is a hole in the ground.
Marduk was formed in 1990 and was part of the second wave of black metal. The band around
founding member Morgan Håkansson started out as a death metal band on their debut Dark
Endless from 1992. Following close contact with Mayhem’s Euronymous, Marduk quickly adopted
their sound and elevated black metal with now classic albums like Those of the Unlight (1993) and
Opus Nocturne (1994). The band peaked commercially and artistically in 1999 with their fifth album
Panzer Division Marduk setting new standards for speed and brutality in black metal. In the early
00’s the band underwent a big line-up change and the old guard of singer Legion, bassist B-War and
drummer Fredrik Andersson left the band and in came Funeral Mist singer Mortuus in 2004 fronting
the band and accompanying guitarist Morgan for the past seven albums, Memento Mori included.
Recently Marduk made headlines firing their bassist Joel Lindholm citing ‘deplorable behavior’ at
Incineration Fest in London earlier this year. As a result, their old bassist (and also producer) Devo
Andersson was brought back into the band.
Never in the band’s history has Marduk taken so much time to release a new album. Five years have
passed since Viktoria, but Memento Mori makes up for the time waiting. Marduk return with ten
new raw and unrelenting black metal compositions reinforcing their position as the leading Swedish
black metal stronghold. In the first three tracks ‘Memento Mori’, ‘Heart of the Funeral’ and ‘Blood of
the Funeral’ Marduk make clear they take no prisoners and act at breakneck speed in good old
Panzer Division Marduk fashion. As Marduk frontman Mortuus comments on the album:
‘We have broken new ground without forgetting our legacy or the journey that brought is to this point’. The band builds on their trademark sound, while still bringing subtle new elements to their music. ‘Shovel Beats Sceptre’ (with bell) and closing track ‘As We Are’ (with guest vocals from late Entombed singer LG Petrov!) are heavy mid-paced tracks that mix in well with other furious tracks like ‘Year of the Maggot’ or ‘Red Tree of Blood’ and in ‘Marching Bones’ Marduk pays homage to Mayhem’s ‘Deathcrush’.
What strikes me about the production is the prominent role for the bass lines in the sound. Most of
the tracks were recorded with their old bassist Joel Lindholm with the occasional bass line by
producer and bassist Devo Andersson. As a bassist he has made sure the bass lines are up in the
foreground of the sound, but on the other hand there is plenty of room for the frantic guitar riffs of
Morgan, the chilling vocals of Mortuus and the lighting fast drumming parts of drummer Simon
Schilling (who is debuting on a Marduk studio album).
After thirty three years Marduk are still on top of their game and continue the strong direction they
set in with the last albums Frontschwein and Viktoria. Marduk’s Memento Mori is a piece of
modern art of dying with which the Swedes connect their black metal with memento mori artists
from sixteenth and seventeenth century in a dignified way.