Before going into the studio to record a full length album, MARDUK has decided to tease the world with a short EP, and they offer an excellent glimpse of what’s to come.

“Warschau II: Headhunter Halfmoon” brutalizes immediately, with an old Panzer Division Marduk vibe to it, as Mortuus delivers his usual twisted and amazing vocals. The riffs are coherent, drums are blasting, and everything that’s expected of MARDUK in terms of quality and speed are in check so far. “Wacht am Rhein: Drumbeats of Death” continues the onslaught of mortar shell assaults on the eardrums, and “Evil” Morgan has gone back to writing catchier MARDUK riffs again. To mix things up, the band slows everything down with “Prochorovka: Blood and Sunflowers,” which unfortunately derails the flow of the EP and kills all previous momentum. “Prochorovka” is slow and unnecessary, as slower songs were never MARDUK’s strong points, and it seems as if another fast track would have rounded this EP out perfectly. Nevertheless, Iron Dawn is short, direct, punishing, and to the point.

Aside from VADER, MARDUK probably has the most EP releases of any metal band, but as long as they continue releasing excellent material on these EPs, all is fine in the world. Whether consumers will pay their hard earned cash on a 3 song mini album remains to be seen, but don’t let the bland cover fool you, Iron Dawn is classic MARDUK material, and delivers a mean punch to the groin. (Blooddawn Productions/Regain Records)