Live Report: Marduk with Aura Noir, Black Anvil, Hod, Panzerfaust, and Natur

Chris “Cheese Dog” Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You and Venomous. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his local New York metal band Flaming Tusk. He is a contributing writer for Revolver and generally comes off as a good-natured pain in everyone’s collective ass.

On June 3, I saw Marduk with Aura Noir, Black Anvil, Hod, Panzerfaust, and Natur at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in NYC. Here’s what I witnessed.

• Number of hours spent being tattooed before the show: Three.
• General feeling: Just…just a little woozy.
• General feeling about the tattoo: Hail!
• Easiest way to find the Williamsburg Music Hall: Follow the guy in the Nunslaughter T-shirt!
• Disheartening sight of the night: The sheer lack of Aura Noir merch available. I wanted an “Ugliest Band In Metal” shirt!
• Onstage when I arrive at Williamsburg Music Hall: Natur from Brooklyn.
• Sounds like: Blackened thrash with over-the-top power-metal moments. Pretty entertaining overall.
• Happy time fun fact: The cover of Natur’s Spider Baby EP is preeeetty fucking cool.
• Number of people in corpse paint present: So far only one, and his is pretty low key.
• Thoughts on this: Marduk is just a little too militant and nihilistic for people to dress up in full black-metal costume for.
• Unlike: When I saw Immortal in February: Half the crowd wore corpse paint.
• Next up: Panzerfaust from Ontario.
• Sounds like: Really raw, acidic black metal powered by thrashing rage and morbid chugs.
• Overall opinion: Any band that turns their mic stand into a chain-and-skull-covered inverted cross is OK by me.
• Rainbow puppy good time fact: The band’s name is taken either from the Darkthrone album of that title or a German anti-tank weapon whose name means “armor fist.”
• Hope for the night: That some corset-wearing black-metal chick will notice my awesome new tattoo and swoon over me.
• Only people who notice my awesome new tattoo: Two Mexican black-metal dudes, in the bathroom.
• Sustenance consumed: A cheese dog and a Lone Star over at the Levee on North 3^rd Street.
• Now, we have: Hod from San Antonio, Texas.
• Sounds like: Unrelenting death-march black metal instilled with a weirdly American sense of groove and sweep.
• Number of leather/denim vests onstage: 4.
• Number of members in Hod: 4.
• Diagnosis: True.
• “Say No To Drugs” fact: Hod’s first demo is named Cry And Piss Yourself. You only wish you could come up with such an awesome title.
• Weirdest merch: Thin metal shields and blasphemous art prints by Remi from Light’s Eclipse Productions. (Check his shit out at remiart.carbonmade.com).
• Other random items sold: A whole bunch of rare patches, sold, I think, by the dudes from Warhemic in Flushing.
• Patches include: A Raped God 666 patch! Holy shit, I just got a Raped God 666 patch! MEXICAN METAL DEATH SQUAD ARISE!
• On that note: Black Anvil from Brooklyn.
• Sounds like: Shred-heavy thrash with holocaustic black-metal overtones and brilliantly dark lyrics.
• Favorite song of the evening: The cunt-punching declaration of “Angels To Dust.”
• Explanation: It’s not a song about cunt-punching; it just feels like some huge unholy necrospirit has uppercutted you clean in your cunt.
• Members of the Metal Press Class Of 2009 present: Two that I’ve run into—Henry Yuan and “Grim” Kim Kelly.
• Members of the local Brooklyn metal militia present: At least six, including Lucky 13’s Melody Henry, Ralph from Demilitia, and a slew of others.
• Shout outs: Done and done, son.
• Second to last: Aura Noir from Oslo, Norway.
• Sounds like: Furious black metal-inspired thrash putridity.
• Personal response: AURA FUCKING NOOOOOIR!
• Standout track of the night: “Unleash The Demon.” What lyrics.
• “Unleash the demon!”: “Come satisfy my need!”
• “Release the semen!”: ….uuuuh…
• Aura Noir songs to look up when you get home: “Death Mask,” “The Pest,” “Blood Unity,” “South American Death.”
• Physical state at this point: Semi-conscious.
• State of my tattoo: Officially starting to throb like a bastard.
• Finally: Marduk, from Norrkøping, Sweden.
• Sounds like: Steel-plated occult war brigade marching across a field of desecrated coffins and burnt church remains.
• Peace love and happiness fact: Marduk’s lead singer Mortuus studies Judo (I believe) and threw a drunken fan over his shoulder at a show.
• Performance observation: Man, these guys are killing it, much more so than the last time I saw them.
• Favorite track: “Burn My Coffin.”
• Wave of nausea and exhaustion: Sudden and jarring.
• Number of times I’ve missed “Panzer Division Marduk” encore: Twice, once due to excessive drunkenness, once due to tattoo-inspired blood loss.
• Diagnosis: False.
• But guess what: No one really gives a shit.