Type: Lyrics are included with the album, Contains explicit content
Genre: Rock
Review
Quite simply, Marduk embodies everything that's nasty and brutish about black metal. If Emperor, Immortal, Mayhem, and Cradle of Filth are the familial Don Corleones of the genre, Marduk could be their hired thug, a weapons specialist not afraid to get dirty hands while taking care of business. That being said, Marduk has unfortunately been a perennial second-tier outfit, although La Grande Danse Macabre, the band's seventh full-length studio release, is its most accomplished and varied work to date. Those disappointed by the blastbeat overload of previous album Panzer Division Marduk will be pleasantly surprised to gander at the grotesque, club-footed cave beast that is La Grande Danse Macabre: A few grandiose song structures, plenty of tempo variations (blasting drums are still abundant, if not as prevalent), gleefully blasphemous lyrical exhortations, and a crisp, clean Abyss Studios production. The record kicks off with the mid-paced instrumental intro "Ars Moriendi," where the power chords come a-crushing before leading into "Azrael," which boasts a superb arrangement and lyric -- a potential classic if not for the mediocre blast-riffing weighing down its flamingly destructive ascent heavenward. The album's granite foundation consists of the truly epic cuts "Bonds of Unholy Matrimony" and "La Grande Danse Macabre," both horribly potent and intelligent onslaughts of ugliness led by relentlessly chugging riffs and the tortured, if somewhat generic, vocal rasps of Legion. As well, "Funeral Bitch," "Death Sex Ejaculation," and "Jesus Christ...Sodomized" are solid excursions into perversity, if hindered by disappointingly immature lyrics -- although they are well-penned, almost poetic in structure, and thankfully not as satanically simplistic or lunkheaded as, say, Deicide. La Grande Danse Macabre is nonetheless a worthy if occasionally uneven effort from these Swedish black metal assassins, the group taking a songwriting step in the right direction, perhaps leaning toward the superb, keyboardless metal wizardry of Immortal. Sure, Marduk knows how to wield its weaponry with succinct efficiency but, unless the group finds and embraces its own demonic muse, it will always be an unholy bridesmaid and never a bride. ~ John Serba, All Music Guide
La Grande Danse Macabre is the seventh studio album by Swedish black metal band Marduk. It was recorded and mixed at The Abyss in December 2000 and released on March 5, 2001 by Regain Records. The theme of the album is death, as Nightwing was blood, and Panzer Division Marduk was war, forming a trilogy of "Blood, War and Death," Marduk's vision of what black metal is. La Grande Danse Macabre is the last Marduk album to feature Fredrik Andersson on drums.
On La Grande Danse Macabre, the theme is death. The lyrical themes are primarily reflective of this, with litterings of the Satanic themes the band initially based themselves on, present.
Track listing
#
Title
Length
1.
"Ars Moriendi"
1:51
2.
"Azrael"
3:06
3.
"Pompa Funebris 1660"
2:36
4.
"Obedience unto Death"
3:16
5.
"Bonds of Unholy Matrimony"
7:03
6.
"La Grande Danse Macabre"
8:11
7.
"Death Sex Ejaculation"
5:11
8.
"Funeral Bitch"
4:58
9.
"Summers End"
4:41
10.
"Jesus Christ... Sodomized"
4:33
Bonus tracks
#
Title
Length
11.
"Samhain" (Limited edition bonus track)
1:29
Trivia
The Century Media release features an alternate cover art, one found on t-shirts.
