I have never been a huge Marduk fan in the past. I mean, of course I like some of their previous stuff. Nightwing has a couple of great songs and the monumental Dreams Of Blood And Iron. Their Reign In Blood alike album Panzer Division Marduk was a puerile attempt to come up with the most brutal album ever (which is of course not). I am however not that familiar with their earlier stuff. Things for me and Marduk began to become really seriously with their latest release La Grande Danse Macabre (The Great Macabre Dance - see French isn’t that difficult). Finally with this album the band was able to come up with more than a decent production.

Now a couple of years later the band returns with another great production from the Abyss Studios, their 8th album so far, called World Funeral (and I really believe that is where we are heading for). The new material remains what it’s meant to be, classic Marduk’s musical aggression. Honestly there’s no difference between La Grande Danse Macabre and this new one. Just like Slayer, Marduk keeps on releasing heavy recordings combining brutality and heaviness. You might want to compare Marduk’s latest two offering with Slayer’s Seasons In The Abyss. A great mix of fast, brutal songs and great heavy tunes. The band doesn't have anything to prove in terms of heaviness and force and it is noted that Marduk has somewhat slowed down the speed over the last few years. They did not put water in their wine as they still master the brutal black metal attack such as on the opening track With Satan And Victorious Weapons, but they put more emphasis on melodies and atmosphere, upping the melody and the overall quality of the songwriting. I dare not say that musically it has not much to do with black metal anymore, but the music definitely is of the slower epic kind for the most part. Some might complain that the music is not as fast and brutal as a real Marduk album should be and that there’s no surprises on this album, except for that weird Bloodletting song, but as for myself I really like the direction they are taking with their two latest releases.

Whether you like this album or not, there will always be people complaining about a new release. It’s too slow, it’s too fast blah blah blah. Sometimes I do complain too. Whatever. This album is another great piece of unholy black metal mixing heaviness and brutality which is now Marduk’s trademark. Period.