I had the opportunity to interview Valgrinder for the first edition of BLACK METAL TERROR MAGAZINE and we talked about Forgjord, but also about MARRAS, his side project with other members of well-known projects. MARRAS has released an amazing debut album which is also on the BMT magazine review. I can’t say I was surprised to hear the second album, as I’m already fully aware of how strong and intense Black Metal is delivered by the icy MARRAS members. Nor did it need the icy wind sound in the opening of the track “From The Last Battleground” with its sharp guitars as blades.
It was but the autumn of 2019 when MARRAS burst from the void, fully formed, with their widely celebrated debut album, Where Light Comes to Die. Although a then-brand-new entity, the black metal this Finnish formation conjured forth exuded an ageless wisdom – which is not surprising given that the MARRAS‘ members hail several highly respected bands.
Now, as this cursed epoch continues on, MARRAS swiftly return with their second album, Endtime Sermon. Indeed aptly titled, Endtime Sermon sonically encapsulates the haunted (and haunting) sensations of these incredibly dark days: mania, depression, hopelessness, fear, longing, DEATH. That the expanded sextet can take these varied-yet-related sensations and brew them into black metal of a most quintessentially Finnish aspect and make each track a new-yet-unified experience is something special, and further proof that the MARRAS of Where Light Comes to Die was no fluke. If anything, Endtime Sermon spans delirious violence and stoic mysticism with equal aplomb, all joined together by a through-thread of the (darkly) cinematic, but the message remains the same: there still is no light, and these are the endtimes whether we accept the fact or choose to ignore it. The end is coming and there is nothing we can do about it.
“Shadows Upon the Sacred Land” with its intro flows into a hard Black Metal with high speed guitars, blast beats 
and hunting vocals. They are back. “(1st Prophecy) Anointing of the Sick ” opens path and makes we feel the burst of our time, the sickness in our society and lives. Then, we have the “Endtime Sermon” track. What a blast. The guitars here have that Burzum element from the first albums and keep the spirit of True Norwegian Black Metal alive. I think we have a nice Valgrinder touch on that.
In “Gathered to Rule” we have a more rhythmic Black Metal with elements of the First Wave, but we also have a more modern feeling with more active keyboards and the dark harmony that we are used to from MARRAS.
Next comes `”(2nd Prophecy) Last Judgment ” and the end times announcement is everywhere. What gives an apocalyptic view is that it is an introduction and what could be worse than that? “My Cold Grave” is the answer with sharp guitars and drums that look like a hammer we have a dark keyboard that packs humanity’s most devastating nightmares: DEATH!
We’ve arrived at “(3rd Prophecy) Pestilence” and disease and creeping death is at the center of this nebulous stage. Such climax is broken by the extreme “As Nights Get Darker” with its guttural roars and a drum set with mind-blowing blast beats. The music brings some changes of tempo, but it always flows into a wall of sound that hurts the ears. That’s BLACK METAL!
If there are still survivors, we will be entering the “(4th Prophecy) Viaticum “…will we live to see this stage of human suffering? Only time will tell.Under apocalyptic bells and a storm, the last track is slowly emerging, the mysterious “From the Soot of Goahti” which, with just over eight minutes, closes an album that can already be considered one of the best of 2021. This track is a summary what MARRAS is and why you should listen to this band and be aware of what Valgrinder does.
RATE: 666
MARRAS lineup
H – vocals
Obscurus – vocals, guitar
Lord M – guitar
Valgrinder – bass, synth
Rohtnuc – synth
Vilthor – drums
