Marduk

 

After giving it much thought, I realized it didn't make much sense to break up MARDUK's story into multiple posts. Hailing from Norrköping, Sweden, they formed in 1990, with guitarist Morgan Steinmeyer Hakansson being the main driving force behind the band.  At the time of the band's formation, Jocke Gothberg (aka Joakim af Grave) was on drums, Richard Kalm was on bass, Andreas Axelson was on vocals, and the aforementioned Morgan was on guitars.  Their initial style was an old-school black metal style that relied heavily on early Bathory with a death metal influence.  They released the infamous Fuck Me Jesus demo in 1991.

"Departure from the Mortals" is off of Fuck Me Jesus

Also in 1991, Marduk recorded a second demo, but it didn't see the light of day until 1997 as the Here's No Peace EP.  It was a continuation of the sound on the first demo, but with slightly different (some might say better) production.

"Within the Abyss" is from the Here's No Peace album/demo

1992 saw the release of Marduk's legendary first studio album, Dark Endless.  This is one of the true landmarks of early 1990s black metal, and a milestone in Swedish black metal.  Produced by Swedish genius Dan Swano, Dark Endless offers up a slab of black metal which contains elements of the old school but also hints toward the newer emerging sound of the 1990s at the same time.

"The Black" comes from their first full-length album

One thing that Marduk wrestled with in their early years was lineup stability. After Dark Endless, Andreas Axelson left, with Joakim af Grave now pulling double duty on drums and vocals. Also, Richard Kalm left the band and B. War was recruited on bass. After these lineup changes, Marduk put out their second album, 1993's Those of the Unlight. On this release, we see Marduk moving away from the old-school, death metal-influenced sound of their early years to something more recognizably second wave. 1994's Opus Nocturne was even more recognizably second wave, with a sound that bore a slight resemblance to some of the Norwegian offerings of the same era.

One of their most famous songs off of Those of the Unlight, this is "Burn my Coffin"

"Sulphur Souls" is off of their 1994 album

The years after Opus Nocturne saw some major changes with Marduk. First off, Joakim af Grave left the band, and newcomer Legion took over on vocals. Many Marduk fans consider this their 'classic' line-up, much in the same way that Mayhem's Dead-era lineup is considered their classic lineup. Also, they decided that they wanted an entirely new sound and began using Peter Tägtgren's Abyss Studios for production.

From their 1996 album, here is the classic "Beyond the Grace of God"

The result was 1996's Heaven Shall Burn When We Are Gathered. A landmark release, this album showed that it was possible to have clean, crisp production without sacrificing the evil, Satanic aura of a black metal album. It was a truly seismic shift in black metal music making.

From this point forward, Marduk churned out some fantastically evil, yet well-produced albums. With 1998's Nightwing, 1999's Panzer Divison Marduk, and 2001's La Grande Danse Macabre, Marduk completed their 'Blood-Fire-Death' trilogy, modeled after the Bathory album of the same name.

From 1998's Nightwing, here is "Of Hell's Fire"

This is the title track from 1999's Panzer Division Marduk

After these albums, 2003's World Funeral underwhelmed fans. The production sounded lazy, and Legion's vocals felt sloppily executed. This resulted in yet another major shift for Marduk. They changed vocalists to Mortuus (known as Arioch for his work with Funeral Mist). Mortuus's vocal performances and contributions to lyric writing helped usher in a new phase for Marduk. Albums such as Plague Angel, Rom. 5:12, and the brilliant Serpent Sermon showcased this fantastic new era of Marduk.

"Serpent Sermon" is from the 2012 album of the same name

Select Discography:

Fuck Me Jesus (demo) (1991)

Here's No Peace (demo) (recorded 1991, released 1997)

Dark Endless (full-length album (1992)

Those of the Unlight (full-length album) (1993)

Opus Nocturne (full-length album) (1994)

Heaven Shall Burn...When We Are Gathered (full-length album) (1996)

Live in Germania (live album) (1997)

Nightwing (full-length album) (1998)

Panzer Division Marduk (full-length album) (1999)

Obedience EP (2000)

Infernal Eternal (live album)  (2000)

La Grande Danse Macabre (full-length album) (2001)

World Funeral (full-length album) (2003)

Plague Angel (full-length album) (2004)

Warschau (live album) (2005)

Rom. 5:12 (full-length album) (2007)

Wormwood (full-length album) (2009)

Iron Dawn EP (2011)

Serpent Sermon (full-length album) (2012)

Next time: IN THE WOODS...

Ophthalamia

Swedish band OPHTHALAMIA represents an unusual chapter in black metal. Much like Abruptum (which featured many of the same members), Ophthalamia was about evil, atmospheric music that had much in common with black metal without being straightforward black metal in the way we understand the term now. But make no mistake, Ophthalamia and their output made a definite mark on not just the Swedish scene of the nineties, but black metal since then.

Ophthalamia was, first and foremost, a brainchild of the man known as IT. Born one Tony Särkkä, IT made his name in various extreme bands of the late 1980s, including thrash band Brejn Dedd (which featured Dan Swanö). While IT formed Opthalamia with guitarist All in 1989 from the ashes of their band Leviathan, this band was fundamentally created to be an outlet for IT to communicate about a fantasy world he himself had concocted. This fantasy world was called Ophthalamia. The name is derived from the word for an eye condition: this is a metaphor for the fact that not everyone can see or perceive the fantasy world. The world of Ophthalamia was populated with various fantasy creatures, had its own language, and even had a dark goddess, Elishia. All of these were created by IT.

"A Lonely Ceremony/The Eternal Walk" is from one of their first recordings, in 1990

In 1991, Ophthalamia put out their first demo, A Long Journey. Ophthalamia's style can best be described as an eerie, melodic, almost doom-paced sound that drew on everything from classic doom metal (Black Sabbath and Candlemass can clearly be heard) to old-school black metal (Bathory). Attempting to communicate their devotion to Elishia and their love of the Ophthalamian mythos, the band created an evil atmosphere with their music above all else.

"A Cry From the Halls of Blood/Empire of Lost Dreams" comes from the 1991 demo

Following the release of a 1992 demo, Journey to Darkness, Ophthalamia signed with Avantgarde Records. They put out their first full-length album A Journey in Darkness in 1994. Featuring newly re-recorded versions of many of their demo songs, this release was produced by legendary musician Dan Swanö and featured Jon Nodtveidt of Dissection fame on vocals. This album contains a darkly melodic sound that fits in well with the 1990s Swedish black metal scene all while being unique in and of itself. To my ears, A Journey in Darkness is Ophthalamia's best work.

Off of their first studio album, this is "Enter the Darkest Thoughts of the Chosen/Agony's Silent Paradise"

Ophthalamia's storied career involves many members leaving or being kicked out (co-founder All, for example), and famous names being involved at various points (producers Dan Swanö and Peter Tagtgren; musicians Ole Ohman, Legion [of Marduk fame], and Jon and Emil Nodtveidt). But as stated above, the band was really about IT's desire to tell the world of the realm known as Ophthalamia, its lore, and its inhabitants. After A Journey in Darkness, Ophthalamia put out a few more albums, as well as the 1997 compilation To Elishia. 

From their last album--1998's Dominion--this is "Time for War"

Select Discography:

A Long Journey (demo) (1991)

Journey to Darkness (demo) (1992)

A Journey to Darkness (full-length) (1994)

Via Dolorosa (full-length) (1995)

A Long Journey (full-length) (1998)

Dominion (full-length) (1998)

Next Time: DENIAL OF GOD

Abruptum

ABRUPTUM is one weird band.  In their prime (early to mid-1990s), they were a mixture of black metal, dark ambient, and doom-death.  They were a Swedish band that pre-dates the black metal explosion of the 1990s, but doesn't have a typical Swedish black metal sound by any means.  They were formed in Stockholm in 1989 by the mysterious gentlemen known as ALL, IT, and EXT.  Their initial sound bears the influence of doom and death metal as well as old-school black metal.

From the 1990 demo The Satanist Tunes

With the release of demos like 1990's Abruptum and The Satanist Tunes, Abruptum unleashed their unholy sound upon the world.  The demonic growls over top of the slow dirge-like metal were unlike most of what was going on in the black metal world.  It really did resemble a more experimental doom/death at times.  With the 1991 7-inch Evil, Abruptum's sound began to morph into something blacker.  The vocals varied between the low-end rumbling growls and the a more tortured screech, and the guitar playing--while still a slower pace--began to resemble black metal.  Also, through the use of distortion and sound effects, the music as a whole took on a more experimental feel.

The weirdness that is Abruptum, from the Evil 7"

By this time, they had kicked out band members Ext and All, and replaced them with EVIL (aka Morgan from Marduk).  The resulting shift in sound was apparent on the 1993 full-length Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectere Me.  This album contained the sound for which Abruptum is famous:  slow, doom-y, noisy, blackened dark ambient.  The weird sound effects and distortion that were present on the Evil 7-inch were even more prominent now.

Just fucking weird....

Abruptum released several more albums in this style, such as 1994's In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumph Tenebrarum.  For the most part, they continued in this style for years before eventually shifting to an almost entirely dark ambient sound, with no hint of black metal.  By the turn of the millenium, Evil was continuing Abruptum as a solo project.  He has put out albums mostly on Marduk's solo label (Blooddawn Productions), including the recently released Potestates Apocalypsis (2011).

Select Discography:

Abruptum (demo) (1990)
The Satanist Tunes  (demo) (1990)
Evil 7" (1991)
Obscuritatem Advoco Amplectere Me (1993)
In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, In Aeternum In Triumph Tenebrarum (1994)
Vi Sonus Veris Nigrae Malitiaes (1996)

Next time:  THORNS