Metal Underground.com

Taking a break from the Satanic and anti-Christian themes for another foray into warfare, Marduk has brought a three song EP to tide over black metal lovers until the release of the next full-length and follow-up to 2009’s “Wormwood” (reviewed here). Like many other holdover releases, “Iron Dawn” doesn’t have a whole lot to offer people who aren’t intimately familiar with the band or who aren’t rabid fans that need everything Marduk puts out.

For the most part, the three tracks on the EP continue Marduk’s standard sound of blast beat laden black metal with abrasive and furious vocals, but also add in a variety of war related sound effects like falling bombs. Vocalist Mortuus even gets in a few of his massively drawn out trademark screams that can only lead one to wonder what alien species he hails from, or which demon lord he offered up sacrifices to, in order to make those types of inhuman sounds.

While the first track “Warschau 2: Headhunter Halfmoon” could easily be mistaken for a lost cut from the “Wormwood” album, the other two offerings have issues that make them less appealing. The frequent slowdowns and clashing cymbals on “Wacht am Rhein: Drumbeats of Death” become monotonous in their repetition, going on far too long and being repeated too many times. Closer “Prochorovka: Blood and Sunflowers” is essentially a long, building intro track, which seems completely out of place and would have worked better as the opening to a full album. With only three songs, having even a single filler track shouldn’t really be an option.

“Iron Dawn” essentially sounds like three “Wormwood” B-Sides that take a combat focused slant. For some that’s exactly what the doctor ordered, but anyone who isn’t committed to owning the entire Marduk discography can probably skip it and wait for the next album.