The one-man riff-driven Atmospheric Black Metal act Malist consists of none other than the ever-talented multi-instrumentalist Ovfrost, who “believes that evil dominates the world”. The project is notable for featuring recurring themes that circulate around tyranny, war, and reclusion. To this day, Malist has released four full-length studio albums in a relentlessly belligerent pace, with the fifth full-length, Of Scorched Earth coming via Avantgarde Music.

Of Scorched Earth also marks the start of a new journey that Malist embarks on with the label.

It is an album that tells a tale of mankind and why it shall inevitably die in nature’s grasp. Not only telling tales of mankind, it also speaks of many themes relating to the passages of time and the dichotomy between life and death, such as primal deities and the apocalypse.

When it comes to the sounds, Malist combines the riff-driven Atmospheric Black Metal elements with Post-Metal and a bit of symphony. Nuances relating to Pagan influences are also heavily apparent on this album, especially on the track “Rotting Into Primal”, accompanied with choruses and melodies that would leave the listeners bewitched. 

Their enchanting riffs blend well with the intricate vocals that would deliver their listeners to the infernal underworld. It’s definitely not Black Metal without featuring the tremolo-picking harshness on one’s songs, and so they featured a recurrent one on the track “Wind of Change, Carry Me”. 

On “The Ship”, they showcase the purest form of eclectic tendencies by fusing elements of Black Metal and Post-Metal, making it a visceral duality between the two contrasting genres. Almost like the resonance of the black hole sun, they managed to poetically and viscerally envisage how the tales of mankind and passages of time and space appear to be when presented under Atmospheric Black Metal narratives.

To me, the overall verdict of this album resembles how it’s like when Post-Metal pioneers Ghost Bath and Alcest are converged altogether with second-wave Black Metal overlords Dark Funeral and Tsjuder. 

Such a genuine craft of dark and haunting premises. 

Buy the album here:
https://malist.bandcamp.com/album/of-scorched-earth

9 / 10
RALKA SKJERSETH