I feel a wee bit icky sitting here trying to review a record from one of the most renowned bands in Black Metal who have been putting out music for almost as long as I have been alive! But here I am, trying to be nitpicky and pedantic as I take a deep dive into Swedish Black Metal demigods’ Marduk’s fifteenth studio record, Momento Mori.

Truth be told, “trve kvlt” black metal has never been my cup of tea, and I am biased toward the modern shapes of the black metal genre. The few Marduk songs I have heard over the years, however, have always been as catchy as they have been aggressive, and of course, menacingly blasphemous in its context. Momento Mori being my first full-length foray into their extensive catalog, I now come in with a more mature outlook towards the genre, and this tempers my views of this record to a large extent.

Momento Mori is a black metal record that focuses on unrelenting intensity in a way that many black metal bands fail to capture. Relying on the sheer ferocity of guitarist, primary songwriter, and founder Morgan’s (Morgan Håkansson) tremolo-picked minor barre chords and furious drum work, Marduk makes its vision statement for Momento Mori abundantly clear from the opening (and title) track “Momento Mori”. However, it is the released single “Blood of the Funeral”, that really shines through and is the first breakout track of the record. Everything that makes Marduk, Marduk, is ramped up to eleven to cacophonous success. The combination of the main verse riff coupled with a chromatic overdub paints a picture of violent evil, which in this reviewer’s humble opinion is where Black Metal as a genre hits its fever pitch of enjoyment. If this wasn’t enough, a bit after the halfway mark, Marduk pulls off a simple yet crushingly effective overdub layer in the form of a single note war horn. By all the Babylonian gods, the absolute maniacal edge this single note horn laid over the frenetic tremolo-picked riff and blast beat extravaganza elevates the track to among the best black metal tracks I have ever heard. In this regard, “Blood of the Funeral” is absolutely stunning in just how intense it is, leaving anyone with the stomach for this frenzy with their own demonic grin!

The middle run of Momento Mori is an absolute scorcher. After waxing lyrical with my praise for “Blood of the Funeral”, the record continues to throw banger after banger at the listener, with “Shovel Beats Scepter” opening with a cavernous bell-themed ambient intro, with the vocalist belting out reverb-laden war chants before Marduk treats us with a more thumping breed of black metal, which works well to slow down our collective heartbeats after “Blood of the Funeral”. Having enough of their low-tempo shenanigans, Marduk steps on the gas yet again, with back-to-back heaters. First off, “Charlatan” channels early 2000s Dark Funeral, in its tremolo picked angry melodies. The final minute or so of the track is where among my drum highlights of this record, with creative cymbal work which always tickles me in all the right places when placed within the black metal tapestry. Maybe my knowledge of the intricacies of various black metal band tropes is too limited to tell the difference, but you could have fooled me into thinking that “Charlatan” was a Dark Funeral track. And that is praise unto itself! Not to be outdone, my second favorite track follows in “Coffin Carrol”, with its renewed emphasis on a melody that I found myself humming to myself long after listening to the entire record, which is saying something for a black metal record. There is something to be said about the simple genius of raising the pitch of the track by shifting the key of the riff by a third or a fifth, giving an increased sense of urgency to the track, which Marduk utilizes on a variety of occasions on Momento Mori.

“Year of the Maggot” also comes in strong after another dip into ambient territory, with more creative drum lines, this time with creative snare work, laid over delicious diminished riffs. There is truly something to be said about a band like Marduk, being able to pump out material as chaotically aggressive and physically demanding for members that may be well into their fifties! Easily evidenced yet again by the dizzyingly chromatic insanity of “Red Tree of Blood”. Momento Mori closes out with the melodically mournful dirge-like track “As We Are”, a demonstration that Marduk can write melodic overtures if they are so inclined.

The blackened heart and blasphemous soul of Marduk is centered around Morgan and his songwriting chops. Some would argue that Marduk’s guitarwork is not technically challenging and mainly focuses on how much you can move around the same minor barre chord. While factually accurate, that takes away from how well these seemingly “simple” riffs weave in and out of each other, which is a hallmark of good songwriting, and relies more on brute force ferocity over nerdy overplaying. Vocalist Mortuus (Daniel Hans Johan Rostén) continues to be a stable force of nature. Again, complaints could be levied that his vocals never stray away from what is par for the course in this genre, but in the context of the sonic textures this band explores, his vocals sit well with effective cadence and arrangements. Drummer, and the newest addition to the roster Simon Schilling holds his own as well as adds his own brand of spice as mentioned in the track descriptions. My only qualm with Momento Mori, is that the mix did the drums dirty, casting them too far into the background with the bass drums sounding more like a rumble from afar rather than something more upfront and present in the mix. On all but very few of the arrangements throughout the record, the snare and cymbal work are lost in the slushy drum mix.

Momento Mori is a pummeling mix of near-relentless ferocity that stands to Marduk’s songwriting greatness as well as sheer physical dominance in a genre that often gets tired and overwrought. This record revels in its simplistic menace and hyperviolence showing the world that Marduk still has what it takes to write a truly “extreme” metal record!