The Soundtrack to Your Upcoming Murder/Suicide.

The next CD to be rescued from The Free Bin and showered with attention is “Nightwing” by the Swedish Black Metal outfit, Marduk. My curiosity in such a recording was driven primarily by my love of Adult Swim’s outrageously funny, Metalocalypse, a cartoon that follows the wacky hijinx of a fictitious metal band known as Dethklok. Having only been exposed to the parody, I was eager to see just how awesomely horrible Marduk could be. And horrible they are.

In Dante’s Inferno the deepest level of hell is described as a dark, frozen wasteland where souls are locked into an icy eternity of nothingness rather than being consumed by flame. Here, we have a similar contrast: instead of the blazing blast beats and red hot guitar solos of Dethklok, “Nightwing” is cold, unchanging and unyielding in its wave of negativity. The individual instruments indistinguishable in the mix, the songs too similar in tempo and tone to tell where they begin and end, this album is more disturbing in its homogenously bleak atmosphere than its misanthropic thematic material.

Having said that, its thematic material could be this recording’s only redeeming quality. Sure, the opening tracks, “BloodtideXXX,” “Of Hell’s Fire,” “Slay the Nazarene” are fairly un-clever attempts to scare my grandma, but then “Nightwing” takes a legitimately interesting turn. The following tracks are a collection of historically inspired odes to Vlad III Prince of Wallachia, (aka Vlad the Impaler, likely the basis for the legend of Dracula) celebrating his legendary ruthlessness.

While it seems noteworthy for a band like Marduk to delve into historical material, the even more interesting twist is that history is still undecided on the chosen subject. Vlad the Impaler is remembered as an unparalleled sadist though it is uncertain how much of this demonization is due to propaganda from political adversaries. To this day, Vlad is regarded as a national hero in present day Romania for defending his homeland against invading Turks as well as a corrupt domestic noble class. No one really denies that he brutally murdered tens of thousands of prisoners and nobles and their families but what is in dispute is how much they deserved it. Historical digressions aside, Vlad’s blood thirst is where Marduk picks up adding its own Satanic slant to the Dracula myth.

Unfortunately, this fascinating premise is rendered moot by “Nightwing’s” overall flaws. Potentially compelling lyrics are all but lost as they are belched in guttural hisses from the back of lead singer “Legion’s” throat. Any substantive atmosphere degenerates into the same old unsatisfying soup of despair that we got from the first few tunes. Ultimately Marduk succeeds in making a really offensive, fairly creepy sounding album but after a short while the listener, gag reflex re-adjusted, will most likely throw this disc back in the free bin and surf Cartoon Network looking for Metalocalypse reruns.

Intelligent Party Funk

It was with tangible trepidation that I plucked Rudder’s "Matorning" (www.ruddermusic.com) out from my pile of rejected and neglected CDs.  A quartet of accomplished but relatively obscure “musicians’ musicians” collaborating on a chops-heavy, instrumental Jazz Funk album, I expected Rudder to be a self-serving project, more about blazing solos and impressing the diehards than about making truly enjoyable music.  Worst case scenario, these musical heavyweights may have been too impressed with their own resumes to actually rehearse together or *gasp* bring any interesting tunes to the recording session. Ugh.

Upon seeing the melting boom box graphic on the cover, color palette lifted straight from the opening credits of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” I steeled myself against the interminable noodling, disinterested comping, and over-reliance on jamming on a funk riff that was sure to ensue.  Finally, just in case my prejudgment needed a little icing on top, the cover artwork was in the style of graffiti as if to suggest the contents within may be regarded as art by the musicians and their ilk, but will be a nuisance to the majority of society. 

To my great surprise “Matorning” is not simply a showcase of the musicians’ technical abilities but a showcase of Rudder’s prowess in creating a kind of hybrid strain of intelligent party funk. Yes, they rock the hell out of these of the tunes, but there are subtler touches pervading the recording as well; seamless group improv, unexpected mood shifts, thoughtful bridges, and a malleable collective sound that deftly jumps from P-Funk jams to New Orleans boogaloo, often in the same tune. 

 

The opening track, “3H Club” is a powerful declaration of Rudder’s M.O.  Dripping with reverb, saxist Chris Cheek establishes a wandering melody that left in less tasteful hands could be the foundation for a Smooth Jazz hit. Luckily Henry Hey is backing with a Hammond B3 Organ, full of evil to scare away any comparison to Kenny G, and Tim Lefebvre and Keith Carlock, on bass and drums respectively, are wailing away on a deep groove that sounds less like elevator music and more like your elevator is plummeting towards the basement.  One instrument or another drops out for heightened tension, returning with a renewed fervor, all the while Cheek’s saxophone sounds an alarm in the background: “This is dirty, nasty music and you’ve been warned.” Chord progressions are explored, new melodies come into play, and “3H Club” just keeps rocking harder.

 

In the following tunes the energy level is not reined in but rather focused into a pointed intensity. In “Daitu” a drum and bass jam opens up and develops in a concentrated trajectory rather than weakly riffing its way towards a point. After a few minutes or so we eventually arrive somewhere in a mid-1970’s Herbie Hancock album (in a good way) with only the electronic tweaks of the following “Neppe” to bring us back to the future.

 

Yet another sign of “Matorning’s” willingness to stretch past the limitations of the Funk beat, “One Note Mosh” features Carlock’s precise New Orleans shuffle working hard to tether soaring sax melodies and a driving chorus to this planet as his band mates explore the outer reaches of the stratosphere with face melting solos. Intriguing group harmonies develop and morph giving the listener a fresh sonic perspective over and over again as the tune makes its way towards climax.

 

Sometimes the listener is caught off guard, sometimes his nodding head may have to change course in mid-bob as the band turns a groove ninety degrees on its ear.  After donning a neck-brace, one can take consolation in the fact that Rudder is an enormously gifted band and instead of hitting “record” and coasting on their collective chops, the band has put together a series of intelligent tunes that engage with the audience and provide real musical meat to sink teeth into.  I’m not sure that “Matorning” will be a great commercial success but I do hope it is indicative of a movement to create smart AND aesthetic jazz music.