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Marduk - Nightwing Audio CD

A fair review of the Marduk "Nightwing" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Marduk reviews here, or go back to the Marduk tabs.

Marduk Band: Marduk
Title: Nightwing
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-10-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Preludium 2: Bloodtide (XXX) 3: Of Hells Fire 4: Slay the Nazarene 5: Nightwing 6: Dreams of Blood and Iron 7: Dracole Wayda 8: Kaziklu Bey 9: Deme Quaden Thyrane 10: Anno Domini 1476

Nightwing
Most loyal Marduk fans like Nightwing or Heaven Shall Burn. This is my favorite Marduk cd. . . . the best. Marduk has a huge black metal following, but they are not for everyone. If your taste is for PURE METAL, these are your guys. If you are a fan of Dimmu, Cradle,and the melodic/symphonic edge of metal this is DEFINETELY NOT FOR YOU.


One of their most interesting efforts.
By the above statement I'm not saying that their fast and furiously aggressive songs aren't any good, after all it's what these guys do. Marduk has always been more interesting whilst playing slow as they seem to have some amazing ability to write killer slow tracks. "Nightwing" is an assortment of the band's slowest songs and is divided into 2 parts. The 2nd part is the story of Vlad Tepes, more well known as Dracula. A weird think on this album is that they didn't include the title track on the track listing and that is very strange since "Nightwing" is one of the best songs they've ever written. All in all this a very good album and probably Marduk's best. .


Of Hell's Fire
What you're going to get from them is nothing but blistering Metal from start to finish, and that's exactly what `Nightwing' is. Marduk doesn't muck around with any of the usual Black Metal atmospheric nonsense like keyboards or choirs.

Unlike many of their Norwegian counterparts, these mad Swedes aren't afraid of bass or decent production either. Let's face it, Necro Black Metal production is a method of covering poor musicianship and crap ideas. Marduk has nothing to hide and by having B. War's bass loud enough to be heard, it adds power to the guitar sound, really putting the Metal back into Black Metal.

On their early albums, Marduk often used blast beats as a cure all, to bridge parts of songs or to fill gaps when noting was happening. Yet, blast beats are conspicuous by their absence throughout this album.

`Nightwing' is divided into two chapters. The first chapter, titled "Dictionaire Infernal" is your typical "Here comes Satan, what a nice chap, all kneel and praise him. He'll lightly saute you for all eternity and you'll enjoy it, so go and do him a favour and knock off Jesus" type of story. It's been done before, and no doubt will be done again, but it's nice, safe standard Black Metal fare.

For some strange reason, the title track pops up between the two chapters, but isn't listed in the track listing. It's what you'd expect - hyperspeed Black Metal with vocals screeching about the vampire myth. Legion's vocals never progress much past a breathy monotone, but they really don't need to, basically just acting as the fourth instrument in the mix.

The second chapter is entitled "The Warlord Of Wallachia", and tackles the legend of Vlad Dracul and his bloodthirsty military campaign through Eastern Europe and into the Middle East during the 15th Century. The five tracks are a fairly basic narrative of events and Morgan Hakansson finally finds space for a guitar solo at the beginning of "Dreams Of Blood And Iron". The slowed tempo adds a militaristic feel to the song, like a medieval army marching to war. Adding to the variation, Legion even almost comes up with a vocal melody. Almost. . .

"Kaziklu Bey (The Lord Impaler)" picks up the pace again, telling of Vlad's terror campaign against the Turks. "Deme Quaden Thyrane" sounds almost like `Under The Sign Of The Black Mark' era Bathory in places, as Legion pulls off a fairly accurate Quorthon impersonation. Final track "Anno Domini 1476" uses a military snare drum beat and a simple guitar line, while the almost spoken vocals describe how "Dracul fought bravely but the twentieth Boyar would be his last kill/When the Turks found his body they cutted off his head". OK, so English isn't the band's first language, but overall this is an epic tale fairly well told.

`Nightwing' isn't a groundbreaking masterpiece, but it is certainly intense and more than competently executed. It is the sort of album to play to a non-believer who has perhaps been put off Black Metal by the likes of Cradle Of Filth or Dimmu Borgir, or even Darkthrone. While it's not grimness incarnate, `Nightwing' never loses its distinct Metal edge.


GREAT
Of course, HSBWWAG is extremely brutal but NIGHTWING is by far a masterpiece. This is maybe the best MARDUK album I own. The song KAZIKLU BEY is, personaly, their best recorded song. The concept of the album is pure genius. If you take the time to read the lyrics, you'll discover that there are elaborate storylines which are extremely cool and brutal. Don't hesitate and try to find this album anywhere you can. It's worth it! This is black metal at its finest and this band continues to get better with time.


Ok Black Album..
Dunno what, but I prefer more other bands, like Dark Funeral, Dimmu Borgir etc. This isn't quite bad black metal album, but it doesn't have that 'something' for me.


You can see a complete list of all Marduk discography, or go back to the Marduk tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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