Panzer Division Marduk bears some similarities to Slayer's masterpiece, Reign in Blood. This is not to insinuate that it is on the same level - a literal few, if even that many, able to boast of such an honor. But where Panzer Division Marduk has not the blessing of almost 15 years to solidify its status as a well deserved classic in the annals of time, it is right up there in sheer intensity - a black metal blood brother.

What sets this CD apart from the rash of lackluster black metal releases polluting the genre? Great production for one thing, the band once again garnering the services of Peter Tagtgren behind the soundboard. More than any other factor, however, is the ever so slight influx of non-"blackened" influences. Let me state it slightly differently: while the heart and soul of the album is black metal pure and simple, its guts are floating in the recesses of death metal. Not necessarily enough to alter the defining elements of the genre - throat-raping screams and a practically nonexistent low end - but conspicuous in an almost dreamlike way. There but not there.

Another thing I like about this album is something I would usually hate about an album, the way it hyperblurs into seemingly a single, 30-minute track. Sure, I have my favorite tracks, such as the opener "Panzer Division Marduk," "Christraping Black Metal," and the closer, "Fistfucking God's Planet." But the fact of the matter is that P.D.M lends itself to a listening in its entirety. Sure, you feel shellshocked after you do, but  this is without a doubt one of the redeeming merits of the album.

I suppose I can sum it all up in one sentence: if I ever am forced to go to war, this will be the soundtrack blaring in my brain as I step onto the battlefield.