Marduk is a kid in the candy shop band, a drop everything and pop it in the cd player with excitement band. When a new disk arrives, the world screeches to a halt until I’ve listened to the disk a few times, then I slowly start to recognize those worried glances from passing motorists…

Rom 5:12 is the latest release from Marduk. Sweden’s longest running black metal band is back with their tenth full length studio album. For those out there that think Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson jumped the shark with Nightwing back in 1998, take Arioch into account. He has had a few years to settle in and make solid contributions. Emil will be missed but Morgan’s machine marches on. One other thing to always bear in mind, Marduk at their worst is still better than some 12000 other black metal bands in existence. Rom 5:12 is not their worst.

Some highlights include “Accuser/Opposer”, which surprised me the first time I listened and heard, at about the three minute mark, what sounded like Morgan had found Krille Andrén wandering the halls and asked him to sing some lines. Shocking juxtaposed to Arioch’s twisted growls. After listening to the whole song I recognized the distinctive voice of Ireland’s primordial wilderness. Nemtheanga is one of my favorite vocalists and hearing him on this album was quite the surprise. “1651” is a moody, dramatic piece that expands an interlude into a full-blown song.

The drums sound great and Arioch whispers his way through it in total anguish. “Imago Mortis” starts off with a lively beat interrupted by a vicious voice underscored by a simple and effective guitar line. This is really a great vocal performance supported by music instead of screaming over the cacophony and demonstrates once again the power of Marduk in the writing of slow songs. “Through The Belly Of Damnation” and “Voices From Avignon” deserve praise as well but I’ll leave those gems for you to discover on your own. Happy days are here again.

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