Marduk - Wormwood

You think this is scary?




This was the original cover



Those fearing (or in some cases hoping) that the newfound maturity of ROM 5:12 would be abandoned on subsequent releases will have spent their time worrying over nothing. The norsecore days of old are gone. Not that they weren't enjoyable, but I personally really love the new grown up Marduk.

The real difference between the two eras are that the old Marduk is kind of like that girl that you liked back in middle school. Sure it's a nice memory but would you really have her back then or bang her now that she's grown up, sexually experienced and has a great rack? Just like there's no comparison between doing it with your old middle school crush in sixth grade when she was experimenting and banging her now that she's your girlfriend, there is no way that anyone could say that Panzer Division Marduk is better than the more mature and experienced Wormwood. This album has a great rack.

There are still plenty of fast blasting parts, but Wormwood is more than just another Marduk blastathon. It's about subtlety and discretion which makes the fast parts just seem that much faster. Mortuus is truly the best thing that ever happened to Marduk since he was able to turn them into a real three-dimensional band. What began on ROM 5:12 is continued here and if you liked what they did back in 2007, then its safe to say that you'll like Wormwood. Then again, if you didn't like their last album, then I'd have to wonder why exactly you're listening to black metal in the first place.

And lets not forget the atmosphere. There is so much evil coming out of this album, even the faster tracks like Into Utter Madness and Nowhere, No-One, Nothing have a sinister vibe to them that the Marduk of old was unable to articulate. This album is high-octane nightmare fuel of the highest quality and I find it genuinely uncomfortable to listen to (in a good way). If you're going to listen to one Scandinavian black metal album this year, then Wormwood is exactly what you need.

9/10