Those of the Unlight [Enhanced]

Ok, I first got into Marduk with "La Grande Danse Macabre" and thought the rest would sound just as good. Well, I was right, but how different they used to sound with other band members! This album isn't great, but it's decent enough to be played a lot. The production is a bit tinny for my tastes, but I do like the vocals and the drums (It's amazing they are done by the same person). If you like Marduk, get this. If not, it might be hard to get into.

After their instantly forgetable, generic and underproduced Dark Endless debut album came this little jewel of the then incipient second wave of black metal. Still not the ultra-fast, blastbeating war machine they would became a few years later, this album has the dark atmosphere later albums would drop in favour of the aforementioned change in style.

Still extreme metal, with a lot of tremolo picking and an incredibly good second guitar work courtesy of the now bassist Devo Anderson, this album is a killer, and as such, it takes no prisoners. Guitars are crunchy but thin when the ocassion calls for, providing an incredibly dynamic guitarwork. B-War plays average -he would get so much better over time- but audible bass with some nice solo parts and all. Now Joakim av Graf's drumming truly steals the show. Not very heavy on the double kick-drums and with a -if I may say so- more conventional r n'roll approach, the guy just shines behind the kit making it the more enjoyable part of this record. The guy doubles as singer and his loud, echo-drenched, throat-shredding shrieks are nothing out of this world but at least they get the job done nicely and are not completely buried in the mix like on later efforts (which I'm also fond of, don't get me wrong).

Now live classics like Wolves or Burn My Coffin are a joy to listen in their original studio versions, much slower and sparsely played.

Now to the sound department. The production is a tad rough and the bottom end needs a lot of boost to be listened correctly. Guitars totally SHRED and provide me with my weekly dosis of metal-induced tinnitus.

I love this record and think it cannot be missing from any Marduk's fan discography.

What Can I say? It's Marduk one of the best black metal bands out there every CD I have heard by them is 5 Stars. Marduk play raw, brutal, fast, grim, necro black metal from Sweden. Marduk are unholy and they are one of the most satanic bands out there. This album is pretty much fast and brutal throughout except for certain parts take a slightly melodic break, but it never stays soft for very long. Track 7 is an instrumental track that starts out with an epic keyboard intro and great atmospheric sounds it is great. If you call yourself a black metal fan you should already own this, but if you don't BUY IT NOW!