Malakhim : "And In Our Hearts the Devil"

It feels like it's been a minute since I reviewed a black metal album, and with it no longer 100 degrees outside, it feels like a more appropriate soundtrack. In reality, it's been about a week since I reviewed the new Pantopticon, which is technically black metal, but it did not feel that dark to me. Then there was before that the new Blackbraid album, which did not do much for me either, making the last proper black metal I reviewed the new LVTHN back in July. This Swedish band is true to the genre, without just hitting you with blast beat and allowing some creepy atmosphere to leave the opening track breath in a few places, though they are still storming the gates when it comes to the overall tempo of the song. This works for this song, but hopefully they will expand the dynamics as the album progresses.

The term Orthodox black metal is used when it comes to these guys. I like to pretend the term is less about conforming to the expectations of the genre and take it to mean these guys are not just playing around with Satanism, but are committed to spreading darkness with their music. The second song works off the more conforming aspect of this, as it throbs under the buzz of tremolo guitar as the vocal cries out in torment. While this is effective for the first two songs by the time we get to " A New Temple," things begin to take on a more uniform song. The lyrics tend to get lost in the rapid-fire screams that are not articulated. The moments of allowing dark melodies to haunt the songs begin to decrease as the storm of guitar rages on. 

There are a few passages of lower growled vocals, and the chords are at times allowed to ring out, but when weighed against the sonic raging, there seem to be fewer deliberate reflections on the darkness being exuded here as the undercurrent of blast rises to fuel the sweeping wave of guitar. Things modulate on "Into Darkness We Depart," but is not dynamic enough to warrant repeat listens regularly. There is a more Watain-like feel to " Angel of the Bottomless Pit". Though the speed finds them racing past in a blur. 

"Hearts Ablaze" has a more purposeful pulse, as the vocals are more of a shouted declaration, which is a very Watain thing to do. But the problem is I already own all the Watain albums and would more than like just listen to them when I am in the mood for this sort of thing. The last songs finds the guitar trying to inject more of an ache to the melodies, but it ends up sounding more like Dissection. These guys give a good effort, and if you are not already worshipping Dissection, then you might be more into these guys. They seem earnest in what they are doing so I will give this album an 8. It drops Halloween on Iron Bonehead. 

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