Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Marduk - Those of the Unlight (1993)

I have been taking some much needed time off from work this week and have used some of the time to focus on some more critical listening of albums that I have never really gotten on with.  The sophomore from Marduk following the death metal laden debut from some three years earlier has never lived up to the expectations set by peers that was the band's magnum opus.  Whilst I can fully accept that Those of the Unlight is an all round improvement in terms of musicianship and songwriting it is still not an out and out black metal album to my ears.  Granting some slack for it being only their second full-length release, there is still a sense for me of Marduk somehow not doing black metal properly on this record.

The legacy death metal elements that lurk around and punctuate Those of the Unlight are confined to the random explosion of leads that just do not fit on a black metal album.  Whilst we are most certainly not in Panzer Division Marduk mode at this early stage of their career nor are we churning out a worthy competitor to Pure Holocaust, Det som engang var or Under a Funeral Moon either.  That is not to say that I am shitcanning Those of the Unlight, it is not a bad record, just one on which the transition to full blown black metal had yet to be completed at this stage.  Dare I say it that for a black metal record - let alone a Marduk record - it is quite tame and a bit boring in places.   It somehow sounds like black metal only done half-right, occupying this odd environment where it is knocking at the door of bm most definitely but sounds more gothic in places than I would exepct it to. 

There are plus points though.  The audible bass that you can track across more or less all tracks is a bonus that exudes confidence and maturity.  The pacing is much better controlled overall also; gone is the feeling of Marduk's own music racing away with them and leaving them playing a crude game of catch up with themselves.  It is a flawed record though because it can literally pass me by without me finding anything truly amazing, or all that consistent to grab my attention with.  The hype I hear surrounding it probably has not helped but I just do not see the high accolades this record gets as being accurate.