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Marduk: Rom 5:12
11/12/12 || BamaHammer
I really like Marduk a lot. They’d probably crack a list of my favorite fifteen bands of all time if I ever really cared enough to sit down and make said list. However, when I first heard “Rom 5:12” back in 2007, I didn’t like it. At all. I thought it was boring and tried to be a little too artsy fartsy just for the sake of it. It didn’t really flow very well, and it sure-as-shit didn’t bludgeon as relentlessly or as beautifully as anything else the band had ever released.
The bottom line is that there are always albums that come out from time to time that I just don’t like for whatever reason. Sometimes, these records even come from bands I respect and even love. With “Rom” I still had to own it since it was Marduk, so the album just sat on the rack for years doing little more than just “completing the set”. Recently, I had decided to listen something different, something I hadn’t heard in a while. “Rom” caught my eye, so I pulled it off the shelf and opened it up. The disc looked brand new and un-played, which was no coincidence. After listening through it again for the first time it seemed, it felt like I was hearing a completely different album.
“Rom” is probably one of the most diverse black metal offerings I’ve ever heard in terms of what the album offers from track to track. The traditional relentless blasting of Marduk of course is there on a few tunes, but other tunes opt for a slower, groovier approach that will have you shakin’ ‘dat ass in the trvest, kvltest way possible. Take the mid-paced and rockin’ “Imago Mortis” for example. After a few listens, the groove will have you droppin’ it like it’s grvm. It’s that catchy. And it doesn’t stop there. After the tracks have sufficient time to be heard, they’re truly all quite infectious.
The musical performances are also pretty impressive as well, particularly the bass and the always-fantastic vocals of Mortuus. I’ve always loved the way Marduk’s bass thumps and pounds and just obliterates everything in its path (see “Dark endless”), but it’s truly earth-shattering in the mix here on “Rom”. Devo even adds some cool bass fills here and there which are immensely conspicuous because of his volume. This is truly one of the all-time great black metal bass albums for sure.
“Rom 5:12” is not short for guest appearances either. Nemtheanga of Primordial contributes to the track “Accuser/Opposer”, which is also quite fantastic. Old-timer Af Gravf shows up for “Cold Mouth Prayer”, another killer track. All in all, this album is excellent, plain and simple. I have no idea why it never clicked with me the first time I heard it, but now I can’t seem to quench my desire for hearing the fucken thing over and over again. If you like quality black metal from one of the genre’s historical heavyweights, check this one out.
- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: Blooddawn
- Website: www.marduk.nu
- Band
- Mortuus: vocals
- Evil: guitars
- Devo: bass
- Emil Dragutinovic: drums
- A. Gustafsson: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. The Levelling Dust
- 02. Cold Mouth Prayer
- 03. Imago Mortis
- 04. Through the Belly of Damnation
- 05. 1651
- 06. Limbs of Worship
- 07. Accuser / Opposer
- 08. Vanity of Vanities
- 09. Womb of Perishableness
- 10. Voices from Avignon
