LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Dark Endless is the debut studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Marduk, originally released in 1992. Recorded during the formative years of the Scandinavian black metal movement, the album captures the group at their rawest, combining early black metal atmosphere with the heavy influence of the Swedish death metal scene.

The album was recorded at Hellspawn Studios in Stockholm in June 1992 and mixed by Dan Swanö. Its dense guitar sound, harsh vocals, primitive rhythmic attack and sinister atmosphere distinguish it from the faster and more relentlessly black-metal-oriented style Marduk would develop on later albums.

Dark Endless is also unique within the band's catalogue as the only Marduk studio album to feature Andreas Axelsson as lead vocalist and Rikard Kalm on bass. The line-up also includes founding guitarist Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson, Magnus “Devo” Andersson on guitar and Joakim Göthberg on drums and additional vocals.

Highlights include the opening Still Fucking Dead (Here's No Peace), the aggressive The Sun Turns Black As Night, Within The Abyss, Departure From The Mortals and the atmospheric title track. The record's combination of black metal imagery with death-metal-derived riffing makes it an important document of the Swedish extreme metal underground of the early 1990s.

Track Listing:

Side A

1. Still Fucking Dead (Here's No Peace) – 4:00
2. The Sun Turns Black As Night – 3:06
3. Within The Abyss – 3:41
4. The Funeral Seemed To Be Endless – 3:37

Side B

1. Departure From The Mortals – 3:23
2. The Black... – 4:04
3. Dark Endless – 3:53
4. Holy Inquisition – 4:25