Marduk "Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered"

Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered is the fourth studio album by Swedish black metal band Marduk. It was recorded and mixed at The Abyss in January 1996 and released on July 1 that year by Osmose Productions. It was re-released in digipak format with bonus tracks on June 27, 2006. Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered is the first Marduk album to feature Legion, formerly of Ophthalamia, on vocals and Peter Tägtgren as mixer. This album marked a shift in style for what Marduk are popularly known for; hyper-blast blast beats and furious drum work, sheer brutality over melody (compared to previous releases), and raw vocals.

The music for "Glorification of the Black God" is an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain". The first guitar riff is from a score in the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz. Furthermore, the lyrics of the song are clearly inspired by "Bald Mountain's" basic theme (a witches' Sabbath on St. John's Night). The title of the album is a reference to the Bathory song Dies Irae from Blood Fire Death.

Track listing

1. "Summon the Darkness" (instrumental) 0:21
2. "Beyond the Grace of God" 5:17
3. "Infernal Eternal" 4:41
4. "Glorification of the Black God" 4:52
5. "Darkness it Shall Be" 4:40
6. "The Black Tormentor of Satan" 4:15
7. "Dracul va Domni Din Nou in Transilvania" 5:39
8. "Legion" 5:55

Track 1 was originally composed by Euronymous as an introduction for "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas".

This is the first in a number of symphonys that will unveil the historical truth of Vlad Tepes Draculea (1431-1476). To be continued.

Japanese edition released in 2002 by the Pony Canyon (Japan) with the whole Glorification EP as a bonus and with a slightly altered cover art.

"Glorification of the Black God" starts with a classical opening by Mussorgsky's "A night on bald mountain", but the whole song is also a "black metal revisited version" of parts of that classic piece.

Front cover painting by Alf Svensson.

Warning - Osmose CD presses dating from February 2001 up to around 2005 may contain a copy-protection method which renders the CD completely unreadable in PCs and certain modern Hi-Fi systems. This isn't indicated anywhere on the packaging.

The German metalcore act Heaven Shall Burn got their name off this album.

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at the Abyss Studio, Sweden. Produced by Peter Tägtgren and Marduk.