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artist: Marduk
title: Opus Nocturne
year: 2013
genre: Black Metal
type: Album (Reissue)
label: Osmose Productions
language: English
rel. date: 2013-05-06
source: WEB/MP3
quality: CBR 320kbps / 44.1 kHz / Joint Stereo
runtime: 00:43:05
size: 103.65MB
rip date: 2025-04-26
source url: http://deezer.com/album/6588315
tracklist:
1. Intro / The Appearance of Spirits of Darkness 0:32
2. Sulphur Souls 5:40
3. From Subterranean Throne Profound 7:47
4. Autumnal Reaper 3:31
5. Materialized in Stone 5:10
6. Untrodden Paths (Wolves Part II) 5:26
7. Opus Nocturne 2:32
8. Deme Quaden Thyrane 5:06
9. The Sun Has Failed 7:21
release notes:
More notes from the b-tier, this time from an artist that û aside from
some early flukes that would endure the test of time û were entirely
unremarkable when compared to the crop of acts from the early to
mid-1990s.
Marduk are another that need little teeing up from me. Halfway decent
spokespeople for Swedish black metal that quickly stagnated into a no
trick pony of monotonous blasting. Despite itÆs patchy reputation and
unfocused riffing, I believe there was potential in their debut æDark
EndlessÆ. But from this half formed death metal, they quickly
solidified their sound into a straightforward black metal approach on
æThose of the UnlightÆ. Then by 1994 they vaulted forward into new
heights of artistic achievement with the release of æOpus NocturneÆ.
Whether it was the frequent line-up changes that dogged the band at
the time, or the uncertainty of youth throwing up accidental moments
of genius, is really besides the point; out of this we get albums like
æOpus NocturneÆ. This is a tight, focused rendering of energetic black
metal that manages to capture a broad emotional range within MardukÆs
dogmatically rigid approach to the style.
Production is pretty standard for the era. Because this is black metal
that focuses more on an aggressive tapestry of riffs and speed than
melancholy, the drums are key to achieving this as they jump from
blast-beat to blast-beat with frequent fills and relentless double
bass to flesh out the sound. For that reason they are high in the mix
but not distractingly so. The same goes for the bass, which is
surprisingly audible and does a good job of complimenting the
straightforward guitars without overshadowing them. The vocals really
shine here. Although they are fairly run-of-the-mill for black metal,
they are committed to the moment in combining melodrama and aggression
which really elevates the music to something more epic when it needs
to.
Marduk use a frantic riff salad approach to crafting each track, but
they balance this with an internal logic, so that the patient and
attentive listener will discovery micro moments of poetry in their
interaction, fleshed out by each transition and brought to life with
energy and colour by the drums. They walk a tight-rope in this regard,
as itÆs a style that can quickly batter the listener into becoming
overwhelmed by the volume and speed with which they follow each other.
But on æOpus NocturneÆ, Marduk apply enough internal logic to the
repetition and development of each idea, thus justifying the structure
û however chaotic û after the fact, and allowing us greater
moment-by-moment satisfaction on repeated listens. This also means
that each part can be kept relatively simple. The chord progressions
themselves are commonplace for black metal, but itÆs the connections
and interactions between each passage that really make this album
shine. And from this structural foundation Marduk are able to get a
lot of mileage out of the simplest melodic adornment, and the most
basic of harmonies, or a welcome reprieve of a slower tempo here and
there. A triumph of logic as much as creativity.
An analysis of this album may be fairly limited in terms of
instructive efficacy. But any agenda that plays down the historical
importance of Marduk is in danger of overplaying their hand when it
comes to dismissing albums like this. Whether honest and successful
executions of an idea or accidents of inexperience, they endure to
this day as a cut above the vast array of black metal coming out by
the mid-90s that would eventually prove to be the death of the second
wave. Marduk, however limited they turned out to be as a band in the
long term, achieved some early successes regardless, deserving of
remembrance in our history.