«Opus Nocturne» is Marduk’s third album and it was released on 4 December 1994 by the French label Osmose Productions. It was recorded and mixed in September 1994 at Hellspawn Studios, with Dan Swanö as engineer.
“`Country: Sweden
Style: Black Metal
For fans of: Dark Funeral, Dissection, Mayhem
Here the band established its characteristic sound: very fast blast beats alongside the melodies of the previous record, before turning to the raw violence of the ones that followed. The album is short and dense, with no room to breathe, and Göthberg’s vocals stay on one continuous, harsh line.
The line-up is Joakim Göthberg on vocals, Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson on guitar, B. War on bass and Fredrik Andersson on drums. It is the last album with Göthberg on vocals.
«Sulphur Souls», «From Subterranean Throne Profound» and «The Sun Has Failed» stand out. The track «Untrodden Paths (Wolves Part II)» ties the album to «Wolves» from the previous record, while the title track keeps to just two and a half minutes. The album runs 43 minutes.
Dan Swanö, known from Edge of Sanity, gave the sound a clarity that let the details show. «Materialized in Stone» took its title from a piece that Mayhem’s Dead had written. In 2006 the album came out again on Regain Records with rehearsal tracks.
The album appeared at a time when the Swedish scene was pushing to the front, along with the first records of Dissection and Dark Funeral. In those years Marduk played live constantly and built their reputation on speed and consistency.
The album remains a favourite with fans for its balance between melody and speed, a balance Marduk never quite found again in the same way.
See also: Marduk – To Sarajevo after two failed attempts and Mayhem – Liturgy of Death | Metal Territory.
