Black Metal History Month - Malefic : "Impermanence"

Atlanta's Malefic identifies as blackened thrash, which is fair enough, as the vocals carry most of the hateful weight on the black metal end of the spectrum, creating more of a Kreator feel. They are very much about the speed metal life when it comes to the pacing of the tight riffing. In some ways, this sort of thing makes me think of Children of Bodom. What they do works well enough on the opening track, making the question this album will be weighed against...so what else can you do? 

These guys are a weird band where the drummer handles the vocals. It is only impressive as he is playing so fast, while he offers his dry raps scowling.  This also makes the vocals more than just texture, though he is also capable of dropping into a lower death growl. The melodic centerpieces are the solo sections. The lyrics are not articulated in a manner that really highlights the fact that they are not screaming about worshipping the devil, but I can hear how these guys are making black metal for people who normally don't listen to black metal. In fact, it's just not that dark at all. "Idiocracy" is more nuanced than most of the first half of the album.

Though by the time I got to "Deserter' the songs started all sounding the same, so I had to dig back into them and give a closer listen. "Deserter" is more on the thrash side of things. Though the meat of the song lacks the hooks that make thrash work. "Disembodiment" sounds like a death metal mix of Kreator and Megadeth. They continue to pour on the speed for "Obsidian Earth' in a manner that begins to feel more redundant despite the change in syncopation. They continue down this path for the remainder of the album, with most of the melody contingent on the guitar solos. Even the last song, which is called "It Haunts" seems like it should be darker than it is. It is, however, clear that these guys can play their instruments and have the chops and chemistry, though, as long as they have spent perfecting them, perhaps a vocalist more focused on hooky intermingling with the riffs might be the missing piece. As it is, this album still works even if it is not dark enough for my tastes,  I will give it an 8. Out on Terminus City.