Review Summary: Mediocrity and disappointment.
We have here a black metal band with a history spanning over three decades, boasting a strong and extensive discography by 2023. Needless to say, one comes to such a record with expectations and healthy curiosity. The swedish black metal veterans, Marduk, for some time now, have moved away from the typical diabolical themes and atmosphere, and turned towards war-related themes instead (even incorporating militaristic stylistic elements - like in the drumming), which, in my opinion, reached its pinnacle with the album
Frontschwein. However, if we momentarily set aside the previously mentioned album, it becomes evident that there's a (unfortunately) negative trend in the quality of their music, and, regrettably,
Memento Mori doesn't mark a breakthrough in that regard.
In my opinion, the turning point was
World Funeral, and ever since then, there's been a steady decline in terms of novelty and peculiarity in their music. The relentless onslaught of indistinct and "run-of-the-mill" black metal tremolos and ceaseless blast beats has become rather monotonous. It's fast and brutal, indeed, but after so many years of experience, riding the coattails of
Panzer Division Marduk is…disappointing. However, it must be said that Marduk occasionally introduced minor experiments into their music, at least! Like, the previously mentioned
Frontschwein was a refreshing chapter in the later stage of the band's discography, and in
Memento Mori they also made an attempt to inject some uniqueness into this profile (e.g., various intros). However, all in all, these efforts remain only marginal.
I would rather focus on the merits of
Memento Mori later in this review, because its weaknesses can be summarized in a single sentence (and there's no point of further elaborations): It's decent, fast-paced black metal, but they failed to mask the mediocrity of the music, and the sterile sound is particularly annoying as well.
But let's talk about the brighter side of
Memento Mori, finally. The first single from the album was the track “Blood of the Funeral”, in which, brass instruments emerged in the final third, creating a truly ominous atmosphere. I imagine every Sear Bliss fan's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this - but unfortunately, this element was only reintroduced in the closing track again. Another refreshing aspect of the album was the track “Charlatan”, perhaps due to the actual presence of some melodies, a slower tempo, and the excellent bass guitar performance (although the bass is outstanding throughout the entire album). However, the highlight of the album is undoubtedly the closing track, “As We Are”, which is clearly the most distinctive Marduk song in years: slow, foreboding, and mysterious. I was particularly pleased with the return of the brass instruments in this track.
All in all, honestly,
Memento Mori is a somewhat uninteresting album. Of course, for those who can't get enough of fast-paced black metal, it might be enjoyable. However, it doesn't offer much more than that, and when considering their entire discography, the situation is quite clear: they've been capable of
much more.
