Band:	Marduk
Album:	Wormwood
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	September 24, 2009
Guest review by:	Uirapuru

01. Nowhere, No-One, Nothing
02. Funeral Dawn
03. This Fleshly Void
04. Unclosing The Curse
05. Into Utter Madness
06. Phosphorous Redeemer
07. To Redirect Perdition
08. Whorecrown
09. Chorus Of Cracking Necks
10. As A Garment

Almost 20 years in activity and still the Swedish group has a tremendous problem with frustrating the listeners. Once again, the band named after a Babylonian God released an album honoring a putrid aspect of the Bible, as Wormwood is the name given to the star that falls upon Earth, poisoning a huge amount of water, according to the Book of Revelation. Which means: ''nothing to do with drinking absinthe'' as Håkansson made very clear in a interview.

What we can clearly see is that the success of Rom 5:12 reflected intensely on the composition and production of this release. We have the same filthy Black Metal production, the same subtle approximation with Death Metal through the insane blast beats, and the same moments of slow cadency of older releases. But what truly makes this album a brother to Rom 5:12 is the space conceived for ambient experimentation, allowing this album to sound even more rotten and blasphemous.

Talking about rotten and blasphemous atmosphere, Mortuus' corrosive vocals once again steals the spotlight. Since Plague Angel his voice always sounded relegated to the background, muffled by the constant explosions in the chaotic blasting. A matter simply resolved through a different configuration of vocal arrangements, making his voice louder and suitable for both blasting and rhythmic moments. Score for production.

Variety is the word that precisely defines Wormwood, overpowering many tracks with this calculated dynamic, to the extremes "Unclosing The Curse," "Phosphorous Redeemer," and "Chorus Of Cracking Necks," to the cadence orientation of "To Redirect Perdition" and "Funeral Dawn." However, variety being the word, the pointed highlights must be "Whorecrown" and especially "This Fleshy Void" as most successful result of this fusion.

For all this, only admirers of uncompromising extremism can possibly reject Wormwood as a first class album, since the mitigation of the early relentless speed is evident. Not to mention the importance of Mortuus's vocal work, beautifully exposed on the previous album, which became a useful trademark for the band, representing a point of expansion in creativity, and making this album 100% worthwhile.