Description
On the 25th of May 2012 Marduk released their 13th studio album Serpent Sermon on their new record label Century Media. The band had mentioned how ‘Serpent Sermon will sound different from what was on Iron Dawn’ something that’s always disappointed news in case you love the way the band sound at the moment. Fortunately any fan of the band couldn’t be disappointed with the album. Yes the shift in the band's sound is extremely evident. While albums like Rom 5:12 and Wormwood had a somewhat death metal influence in the playing style, on Serpent Sermon the band took a more bleak approach, and that abrasive death metal style is noticeably reduced on the album, most obviously in the guitars of the album, with guitarist Morgan favouring a trebly trem-picked style for the most part. Mortuus, who has preferred a gruff, low pitch growl all along not only in the previous albums, but also on his Funeral Mist releases, takes on a different approach this time, and though the tortured, gargled style is still present, he registers a higher pitch this time, giving the music a rather different feel yet without losing that aggressive touch in Marduk's music. For the most part though, despite the slight change in playing style of the band, the song structures still remind fans and listeners of the band's style on Wormwood and Rom 5:12, with the most obvious being songs like Souls for Belial, that was released on this exclusive single. The hysterical, charging blasts and terrific riffs of this song is fantastic in its own right. The song is itself a pure product of the Mortuus era. After a groaning introduction, a deluge of decibels smashes the eardrums. Generally blasted, this song also has slower passages, during which the singer recites his words with his inimitable gravely voice. It might be simple in its composition but it feels like an instant Marduk classic. This is a special two track Sweden only single available only to the April issue of 2012 Sweden rock magazine subscribers Track listing: 1. Souls For Belial 2. Oil On Panel-Woven Hand cover