I have been on quite the violent side of Black Metal lately. While I still stick to my beautiful Ukrainian passion and Cascadian melodies, a whole more blast beats have been played more than anything. Let’s just say I have been on a Marduk kick lately. I really underappreciated this band up until a year or so ago, realizing that there were ways around making an entire album of blast beats bland: back it with fantastic riffs and make sure the blasts are textbook. If you have not noticed, I recently gave Opus Nocturne the CLASSIC treatment and have no fear of severe backlash if I give another one or two Marduk albums the same value. This is Iron Dawn; Marduk’s first foray into entirely military themed lyrics since Panzer Division Marduk. Once again, this seems to largely focus on WWII.

It has been about two years since the very good Wormwood was released, marking the finest album with Mortuus on vocals, who is extremely unique to the genre, giving the band an identity through vocals, a rarity in Black Metal. Mortuus here performs on his third work by Marduk. I have to say I have mixed feelings about this one.

The first of the tracks is Warschau 2: Headhunter Halfmoon. An air horn rings out as blast beats and a rapid riff lay waste to all in its path. Shortly after Mortuus brings his trademark vocals in, sounding as if he is being tortured. To me, the air raid siren is one of the most terrifying sounds in the world. I couldn’t imagine being in Berlin, minding my day and cooking for my girlfriend, when the siren rings and fire rains from the sky. More sound effects of whistling bombs add to the ambiance, along with the zooming sounds of Jericho Trumpets, used to make noise through a Junkers propeller as to cause an intimidation factor. As if Marduk were not cacophonous enough, the whirling explosives, accelerating dive bombers, and air ride sirens make Warchau 2: Headhunter Halfmoon the perfect soundtrack to the insanity of open warfare. Wacht Am Rhein: Drumbeats of Death is more of the same to start, with Mortuus especially shining here as he brings his exponential violent and torturous style forth in its greatest fervor. This track shows more progression despite the consistent barrages of blast beats and rapid riffs. My fear upon the first track and a half was that this would be another Panzer Division Marduk. That was an enjoyable album nothing compared to their early classics or the excellence of World Funeral. The final track: Prochorovka: Blood and Sunflowers starts off much, much slower, adding some extra diversity to an otherwise one dimensional yet decent EP. The statement “love or hate” could be made about the entirety of Black Metal, and Death Metal for that matter, but here with Marduk it more than ever rings true. Marduk play Black Metal with a Death Metal approach, and there is nothing that will change. Some albums may get better or worse, but if you did not like them in the 90s, you won’t like them now. I refuse to state that Marduk are reaching the twilight of their career. I feel that they are still more than capable of masterworks, but as for now I have mixed feelings about Iron Dawn EP. I am a WWII buff so that piqued my interest right from the get-go, but there is just too little material and too little dimension for this to be considered a downright great release. I am hoping this is a teaser for a military themed album to come soon. Sometimes that is how EP’s work. I believe Marduk have something up their sleeves. If it is something they take their time with, progress, and put thought into, we could be looking at another great chapter in Marduk’s history.