MARDUK - Memento Mori
Century Media
As a MARDUK fan from their early days I can honestly say that the Mortuus era of the band has been a tough sell. Personally I like his work when he's doing FUNERAL MIST. And if you're a Black Metal fan you should as well. Now I'm not saying the albums he's been on starting with 2004's Plague Angel have been bad. In fact I think his tenure as vocalist/songwriter have helped the band move into these modern days of the genre without sounding like an oldies band.
Be that as it may the Mortuus era albums, this new one being the seventh, have been hit or miss for me. I'd say the first three are good and the two afterwards have a handful of decent songs on em. But their last one, 2018's Viktoria, is by far their worst. So I come into this one feeling that I have nothing to lose. Oddly enough I'd say this is an improvement but not by much.
Look as far as the singing and musicianship go then yeah MARDUK are doing well. As far as the songs go, they've ditched the war themes of the past two albums and embraced death. I mean you've got songs like "Heart of the Funeral" followed up by "Blood of the Funeral" and of course "Shovel Beats Sceptre". There's a couple of others involving a dirt nap as well. Are they trying to say the band is dead?
Musically I think the more memorable cuts are the ones where the band really cuts loose for example "Year of the Maggot". The riff and drum work are from the past but the bass is thick and Mortuus has that blood dripping vocal going. I'd say the same for "Heart of the Funeral" and it's companion "Blood of the Funeral". Like I said earlier it's better than their last one. But they're still on cruise control. I hate the album cover as well.
LISTEN HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmoDqMdYIug
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