Marduk – “Frontschwein” [Album Review]

Make no mistake about it, Frontschwein, the new album from Swedish black metal heavyweights Marduk, is as uncompromising as anything else in their immense back catalogue and, as black metal fans will testify, it is an immense back catalogue. You’d expect nothing else though from a band who, thirteen albums into their career, are still clearly on top of their game.

Returning to familiar themes, well, for those of you familiar with their 1999 classic Panzerfaust Marduk, the Swedish veterans deliver another slice of raw, vicious, WWII-themed rage. Marduk have got it nailed on Frontschwein from the raw, razor-sharp riffs to Daniel Rosténferal’s hellish roar. Pinning this cacophony of fury together is new drummer Fredrik Widig who blasts through the likes of “Rope Of Regret” sounding like a seasoned Marduk veteran. With the album jammed full of that signature Marduk guitar sound, Frontschwein is the perfect example of how hateful and uncompromising this genre can be. There is no wanking about with atmospherics for tracks like “Cauldron Of Blood”. Nope, this is just unadulterated, black-hearted fury at its finest.

Frontschwein is an album that, over time, will be held in the same regard as the rest of Marduk’s imposing back catalogue. Like I said in my introduction, it is the sound of a band who, even at this stage of their career, are most definitely still on top of their game, and long may they continue to reign if they keep delivering recordings hellish as this one.

Track Listing:

01. Frontschwein
02. The Blond Beast
03. Afrika
04. Wartheland
05. Rope Of Regret
06. Between The Wolf-Packs
07. Nebelwerfer
08. Falaise: Cauldron Of Blood
09. Doomsday Elite
10. 503
11. Thousand-Fold Death
12. Warschau III: Necropolis

Run Time: 52:35
Release Date: January 19, 2015

Check out the video for “Frontschwein”