optisailor2002 Despite having many fans welcoming Mortuus' entry into Marduk in 2004, the influences that he has brought with him into the songwriting of the band has been rather a bit of a bittersweet experience personally. While I like the increased intensity that he has brought in, with his powerful vocals, the band also seemed to take a slightly altered route, with albums like Rom 5:12 and Wormwood containing some of the band's slowest songs to date, which could have been intended to display the band's growth, only ended up boring me. So when the band announced the release of a new EP in 2011, I didn't have much high expectations, fearing the inclusion of yet another 3 boring tracks, but looking at the short track lengths gave me some sense of hope, with any fears of a boring song being limited to at most a short 5 minute.

Fortunately though, Iron Dawn does not disappoint. Warschau 2: Headhunter Halfmoon opens with sounds of a war siren, in line with the band's constant themes of death and war throughout their discography, and marks a step in the right direction. And it does not take long for the song to begin proper, and the listener is thrown into a myriad of chaos and destruction, as Marduk batters the listener relentlessly, showing the listener what classic Marduk should sound like, with the large sounding guitar tone of Evil and the hard-hitting blast beats of drummer Lars. Mortuus' vocals here is more tortured than ever, and unlike previous releases, Mortuus' vocals register a slightly higher pitch over here, and this helps in making the music all the more impactful as it hits the listeners hard in the guts. The constantly wailing siren at the background also helps to keep up the destructive atmosphere and mood that the band has conjured, and further brings out and emphasises the violence in Marduk's music. Second track Wacht Am Rhein: Drumbeats of Death certainly lives up to its name, with Lars hitting the skins relentlessly, at an almost inhuman speed.

The first 2 tracks on this 3-track EP are no-nonsense, straightforward blasting black metal tracks that gives listeners little time to breathe, while the third and final track, Prochorovka: Blood and Sunflowers sees the band taking a slowdown (just like the slower material on the previous 2 albums), Don't be fooled by the somewhat slightly optimistic songtitle though, as the song presents an even darker side of Marduk, with the band opting to crush the listeners under the ominous and heavy atmosphere on this track. And while I would have loved to complain about how this track bored me out, it is hard to deny the impact and damage that the first 2 tracks have caused, making this third, slow track a somewhat welcome one, driven by slow and heavy riffing. The slight disappointment after the album ends then, would come in the form of the band releasing a statement mentioning how the upcoming full length will be of a different concept from the material on Iron Dawn. Until then, one can only hope that this does not mean further disappointment.

Originally written for http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/