Marduk :: Photo by Nik ChristoffersonDecember 8th, 2009 - Marduk, Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack, Black Anvil @ Studio Seven
I think we’ve covered the gamut as far as metal genres go recently, everything from the influential crossover thrash of D.R.I. to the gripped claw power metal of 3 Inches of Blood. The one metal genre that I always say doesn’t show its corpse painted face around Seattle enough is of course black metal. We do have our own little black metal wonder in Olympia’s Wolves in the Throne Room, but a few more bands making the trip from yonder in Europe would be very nice.
Nachtmystium :: Photo by Nik ChristoffersonHey, what do you know? I got my wish last Tuesday.
One of the finest most respected long running black metal bands in the world is Sweden’s Marduk, and thank Lucifer that they included Seattle as part of their first tour of the US in 8 years. Their timing could not have been better either, December 8th as it turned out was one of the coldest, darkest evenings in recent memory-- a perfect night for some blasphemous black metal.
Marduk had a nice group of openers to keep the crowds hearts cold before they took the stage including Black Anvil, Merrimack, Mantic Ritual, and the mighty Nachtmystium. I arrived in time for Merrimack’s set and the French black metal band poured on some truely anti-Christian sentiment with both thrashy evil riffs and blatant between song banter. Merrimack was a great start to the evening, dawning the classic corpse paint, chain belts and spikes that I have both come to appreciate and seek out as a metal fan.
Nachtmystium :: Photo by Nik Christofferson
Next was Mantic Ritual who like Merrimack had slipped by my metal binoculars prior to this show. The Pittsburgh, PA natives played blackened thrash metal just like their obvious influence Venom did in the 80’s. The correlation wasn’t just because of front man Dave Watson’s cut-off Venom shirt, but they sounded a lot like Venom. They actually played Venom better than Venom ever did, with the addition of some sick futuristic sounding finger tapped solos by lead guitarist Jeff Potts. These guys absolutely brought it, and were a sweet new discovery.
Now for the band I was waiting for. I love Marduk and everything but Nachtmystium is out of this world kick ass. Combining elements of thrash, psych, old-school punk, and of course black metal and morphing them into some of the most jaw dropping metal on the face of the planet is quite a feat. The set was so frigging epic at one point my eyes glazed over and I fell into some sort of metal induced trance. I looked over at my brother-in-law and he had the same fucked up look on his face. We were blown away by the impressive blacker than black sounds emanating from the four men on stage. The crowd swarmed and raised their fists in praise during “Assassins” from 2008’s ‘Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1’, and the set was capped with a one-two punch of “One of These Nights” which is a prime example of what psych black metal sounds like and a blazing riotous cover of GG Allin’s “I Kill Everything That I Fuck” that stripped paint off of Studio Seven’s shitty walls.
Marduk :: Photo by Nik Christofferson
After Nachtmystium there was barely enough energy for Marduk, but luckily they proved why they have been around for so long. Supporting a great new record entitled “Wormwood”, Marduk made up for the 8 year US touring gap by destroying. Front man “Mortuus” was a looming presence on stage and when I moved from the front to the back for a better mix, he looked and sounded like a black metal warrior. Founding guitarist “Evil” conjured ultra blackened riffs from his camouflage painted axe. Overall the Swedes were impressive on so many levels but the most prominent was pure unadulterated black metal brutality. Marduk originally formed in hopes of becoming one of the most blasphemous bands in the world, I think they’ve succeeded.
Marduk :: Photo By Nik Christofferson
Marduk :: Photo by Nik Christofferson
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