Review by Xephyr for Marduk - Opus Nocturne (1994)
Sinister Shifts
Opus Nocturne is a ripping but unexpectedly controlled and slightly atmospheric album from second wave Swedish Black Metal band Marduk that left me with some mixed feelings at the end of it all. As a band who eased themselves into Black Metal through their previous two records Dark Endless and Those of the Unlight, they decided to fully unleash the aggression and grime on this one, pushing new drummer Fredrik Andersson to the absolute edge and forgoing a more balanced old school mix for one that has less pronounced guitars but a more sinister and epic feel. Even though Opus Nocturne tries to balance itself out with chuggier, more plodding tracks like "Materialized in Stone", the appeal inevitably comes from the unrelenting torrents of blast beats and classic Black Metal chord progressions that sometimes feel a bit too watered down for their own good. So even though the slower and more atmospheric sections are few and far between, they make up most of the highlights for me on Opus Nocturne thanks to incredibly well written transitions and slower, chunky riffing.
Marduk does manage to forge a connection between cleaner, slower parts and raging tremolo riffing that feels much more natural than other epic Black Metal albums at the time, with the transitions in "Sulphur Souls" and "Untrodden Paths" being brilliant and satisfying. Even though some of their repeating riffs put me to sleep after a while, especially since most of the rhythms and melodies felt recycled towards the end of the record. Andersson's drumming tends to accent the same sort of rhythm throughout Opus Nocturne's entirety, so it's not too surprising that the whole affair starts to blend together by the time I reach "The Sun Has Failed". All of that considered, though, I came around to the pernicious wickedness that this album tries to convey, with vocalist Jaokim Af Gravf giving a harrowing performance that refuses to ease up for any amount of time.
The monotony of this album really wore me down, with big, epic build-ups and crescendos ending in the same old riff over and over again. Marduk certainly know how to structure their songs in interesting ways that keeps the evil atmosphere intact, but I was never wowed by any of the riffs themselves. Most of them are only one bar in length and while there's enough variance and subtle progressions as each song goes along, I can't help but go numb to it all after a while. The drumming also doesn't help this case, as impressive and well-placed as it is. I actually really like how all the percussion is tonally placed, with the bass drum sounding solid and slightly cutting through the rest of the mix without letting the blast beats not completely take over each track. Even still, Andersson's relentless performance alongside the sometimes elementary riffing wore me down to a point where I somewhat dreaded every transition back into aggressive Black Metal riffing. It's a shame because he has a hell of a performance on this album, with every crash cymbal being expertly placed and his fills to transition out of slower sections being incredibly addicting.
Opus Nocturne may be considered a forgotten gem in the midst of 90's Black Metal revival, but it's not necessarily a forgone classic for me. Marduk has some great ideas and a killer, classic feel, but they fall a bit flat on staying interesting through the entire runtime of the album. I'm sure that diehard fans of the classic Black Metal sound will be returning to this release as Marduk's standout alongside Those of the Unlight, but it doesn't leave me with many standout impressions compared to other Black Metal releases at the time. Still a welcome and sinister addition to multitude of fantastic and relentlessly aggressive classic Black Metal albums.