Formed last year, Malefic Throne finds Morbid Angel frontman Steve Tucker joining forces with former Angelcorpse guitarist Gene Palubicki and drummer John Longstreth (also of Origin and Hate Eternal), the trio producing an eponymously titled four track EP (released via Hells Headbangers) of finest quality death metal.
The pandemic spawned death metal “supergroup,” Malefic Throne is a three-headed beast of death metal royalty: guitarist Gene Palubicki (Perdition Temple, Angelcorpse, Blasphemic Cruelty), vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker (Morbid Angel, Warfather), and drummer John Longstreth (Origin, Hate Eternal, ex-Angelcorpse). The band shared their first single and a visualizer “A New Hand Upon the Blade!” Their self-titled EP Malefic Throne comes out on the 28th of January. It will be available in CD, 12″ vinyl, and cassette tape formats via Hells Headbangers. Watch the visualiser for the debut track now!
I’ll preface this review by informing listeners that there’s nothing wrong with their ears or how their brain processes sound and information; upon first impression, you’re not going to catch-all of the riffs and bits that Origin will throw your way on Unparalleled Universe (Nuclear Blast/Agonia). And that’s totally fine. Origin clearly wanted it to be this way. That or they’ve tapped into the musical sensibilities of a far more advanced alien race.Continue reading
Around since 1997, the north-American band Origin began their career with a demo back in 1998, but since 2000, when they released the debut Origin, they have granted us only with full-lengths every three years. With an acclaimed discography, Omnipresent is Origin’s sixth album that’s being released through the almighty Nuclear Blast Records (Agonia Records in Europe). The album also marks the recording debut of vocalist Jason Keyser (ex-Skinless).
During the first moments of this new record with the song ‘All Things Dead’, the listener may have the feeling that’s listening to a thunderous blending between death and black metal so characteristic in Behemoth’s sound, but as the album grows up all doubts are vanished and it’s clear we are before a technical death metal record.
With the ‘Manifest Desolate’ track it’s delivered a catchy syncopation passage and because of Paul Ryan’s steady and balanced wrist playing the guitar the song evolves into a war marching soundscape – something that’s not predicted and which gives the song a progressive shape.
Besides the full-bodied songs, Omnipresent also features some instrumental tracks that last a little more than sixty seconds giving us pure technical and melodic moments using the guitar’s acute notes so usual in this kind of metal genre. However, this album doesn’t live only by technique spasms, because the ‘Source Of Icon O’ song changes the palette of sounds and a grindcore universe is injected into the record.
Talking about the musician’s performance, John Longstreth deserves some credit here because he’s a team player – he knows when some crazy drumming skills are needed and when he have to play simpler in the background so the other instruments have their own spotlight. Probably helped by the production department, the drumming pedals are prominently heard when the music asks for it complementing what I mentioned earlier. Mike Flores’ bass guitar is also a piece that has its own deserved appearance in the ‘Unattainable Zero’ track where it accompanies the guitar in cool shredding.
And when we think that’s nothing left to show, the last track ‘The Indiscriminate’ closes the album in a mad way with heavy explosions alternating between speeding and breaking like a racing car all the way forward and down to the end of Omnipresent.
7.5/10
DIOGO FERREIRA