Black Metal History Month - Malist : Of Scorched Earth"

This one-man band from the Czech Republic plays a very straightforward style of modern black metal. Modern means there are going to be post-rock moments and atmospheric interludes, but the hyper-fast tremolo-picked guitar maintains its static tension. It does ring out with a bit of melody. It is important that the second song was given more room to breathe rather than just blasting back into things. In the middle of the song, things flow into this moodier more post-rock atmosphere. This proves to be what really makes the song most effective. There is not a great deal of darkness to what is going down, as the album's message has nothing to do with the Left Hand Path, but is an apocalyptic prophecy of the Earth's undoing due to nature striking back, so more like musings of a vengeful hippy. 

"The Ship" feels like Agalloch at its most aggressive. The vocals carry a similar snarl. It does not break any new ground for black metal or this album thus far. As far as one-man bands go there is normally one area they excel at most. This guy seems to be a guitarist first and foremost. This is very evident going into "Winds of Change, Carry Me" The dizzying flurry of fretboard pyrotechnics is not really my thing as it seems too busy. If you are a fan of technical death metal and trying to get into black metal then this might be the album for you. This song takes you down a long and winding road with an orchestral sense of wonderment serving as window dressing for its indulgences. 

"Rotting into Primal" is another hyper-fast blitz that charges at you with rabid hunger. There is almost an Immortal-like feel in the grandiose nature of the scope of sound captured. Does that translate into catchy songwriting/ Not really. There are many sounds layered here, and the vocals shift to a lower-death metal growl. By the time we get to the last song, it feels like the climax of the previous song and things are running together. I will round it down to a 7.5, he is good at what he does, and what he does has an audience that I am not part of. However, it is being scored as such due to how it is done. 

pst64