Raffy Reviews - Marduk: 'Viktoria'

Background

Sweden's diverse catalogue of heavy metal artists is widely known the whole world over. From Amon Amarth and In Flames to the likes of Opeth and Dark Tranquility, there is a ton of variety to choose from. And today, we will be looking at one black metal outfit that's held its own throughout the decades and has very recently released its latest album onto us. Marduk is a band that's been active since the very early 1990s and spawned many releases through various record labels. With that in mind, here is Viktoria.

Album Breakdown

Viktoria serves as Marduk's 14th full length unveiled via Century Media Records in June of 2018. This 30-something minute album consisting of nine tracks features the four piece group in all its undying glory and tells of themes revolving around war, myths, violence, and with some historical background as well.

The Pros

For the sake of this review, I will highlight the high points of Viktoria.

• The intro to the album in the form of 'Werwolf' comes in with some haunting background sirens and chanting that creates a somewhat eerie, yet uplifting atmosphere for its listeners.
• Right off the bat, you've got black metal tremolo riffing and blast beat drumming as well as a fair share of signature Marduk-style high vocals, all finely produced and mixed.
• The song 'June 44' is appropriately fast paced and enjoyable kvlt metal in many ways, including the melodic riffs, vocal variety and overall ambiance.
• 'Equestrian Bloodlust', while a shorter track, offers some great buildup to 'Tiger I', which happens to be arguably my fave song on this album merely for its simplistic, yet headbang-worthy main riff. It's a slower, more balladic type composition, but it still works great here.
• 'The Last Fallen' has some great chord strumming as well as percussional work, though it's lacking a bit in the vocal department in this instance.
• The eponymous/self-titled track offers some decent bass lines and lyricism.

The Cons

Despite the aforementioned positives, here are a few of the issues I had with Viktoria.

• I felt as though it was recycled at times, mainly within the riff department. The noticeable lack of solos is there too.
• It's a bit on the shorter side for the genre, which you could take for what you will.
• The album kinda drags towards the end, and some tracks lack variety.

The Verdict

All in all, Viktoria by Marduk feels a bit "middle of the road" and a mixed bag despite the several things I liked about it. There are, overall, five songs I enjoyed out of the nine, so there is still a bit of fun to be had with it. I'd still recommend it despite it being little different from what you've heard before. If you're a fan of their previous few releases, then you might still have a ball with this one.

Fave Tracks: 'June 44', 'Tiger I'

For Fans Of: Dark Funeral, Watain

**This release is available now here!**

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-Review by: Dave Raffy

Musician, reviewer, fan & promoter 

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