Marduk - Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered (1996)^{Release ID: 5570}

The band evolves with a killer production and unprecedented brutality.

When I go back over the Marduk discography, it really is surprising how much melody was infused into their early albums. Those of the Unlight and Opus Nocturne contain fantastic melodies behind all the evil atmosphere that made them entertaining listens. When you compare these albums to later releases such as Panzer Division Marduk, it really doesn't sound like the same band at all. Later albums would be filled with endless blastbeats, cold militaristic riffs and relentless, venomous vocals. So where does Heaven Shall Burn...When We Are Gathered sit within all this? Somewhere in between really. I can still hear remnants of that melody, but it's clearly where Marduk decided to ramp up the aggression to unprecedented levels, kickstarting a style they would continue with right through to today.

When I first pressed play back in 1996, I was stunned at how completely vicious this album is. Beyond the Grace of God and Infernal Eternal showed the Marduk I already loved, complete with awesome melodies, but with a monstrous production and a brutality unrivalled by anything I'd experienced in black metal prior. Fredrick Andersson's drumming is superb and Morgan's riffs exhilarating. The new vocalist Legion contained enough venom to kill unsuspecting bystanders and through all this wonderful darkness, B War's bass was still miraculously audible! These two tracks had me chomping at the bit for more and I thought these Swedes had hit the black metal jackpot. Sadly, Heaven Shall Burn...When We Are Gathered doesn't quite manage to maintain this high level for its entirety.

It all starts to go a bit awry with Glorification of the Black God. The band decided it was a great idea to transform a recognisable piece of classical music into a black metal riff. The idea was obviously to create an imposing mood of darkness, but the result is tacky to say the least. The rest of the track is great, but I cringe every time those sections kick in. I could have forgiven the band for this little creative misadventure if it hadn't been for the next track Darkness it Shall Be. This must be one of the most infuriatingly repetitive and boring black metal tracks ever made. It repeats the same structure repeatedly to a backdrop of blastbeats for close to five minutes! It's a perfectly decent verse/chorus structure, but by halfway through I'm reaching desperately for the skip button.

Thankfully, the album does manage to pick up the ball that it dropped after such a grand beginning. The Black Tormentor of Satan and Legion are both excellent and Dracul Va Domni Din Nou in Transilvania even slows things down, adding some much-needed variety to proceedings. But I can't help feeling like Heaven Shall Burn...When We Are Gathered could have been an album we talk about when discussing top 10 black metal albums. Its influence can be felt in stacks of modern metal and a complete album with the quality of the best tracks would most certainly have made a lasting mark in the scene. Unfortunately, Marduk have always struggled to put together a consistently excellent release, and this album is no different. It's still a worthy purchase for anyone into black metal, but it could have been so much more!