Beats and yelling: Malefic Throne

The Conquering Darkness
Out 28^th November on Agonia Records

Tampa death metal super group emerge with a continuity debut following their blue collar self titled EP back in 2022. What’s perhaps most surprising about this album is just how perfectly it articulates a synthesis of the traditions each of its members are known for. The violent freneticism of Angelcorpse, the bulky, undulating plod of Steve Tucker era Morbid Angel, and the jagged technical prowess of Origin are all present and correct. But the resulting melting pot is somehow emptier than it should be given these inputs. Neither incoherent chimera nor a fluid synthesis of identities. Malefic Throne somehow manage thread a third way. Its members happily play off each other leaving toes unstepped on, but their individual styles somehow dovetail off into the passable.  

The overall presentation alone is worth noting for its unfiltered rawness. It feels authentically traditional in the sense that there was no conscious effort to achieve a specific hue or period correct aesthetic. One gets the impression that the thinking behind mix was simply about finding the fastest route to the serviceable. Longstreth’s drumming cuts through with clarity, given little in the way of enhancement, allowing the power of the performance to speak for itself. Guitars dominate both the mix and the flow of each piece. Due to the sheer, relentless speed of this material they are occasionally lost alongside the drums, particularly at the mid to lower end. But the listener is able to digest the majority of riffs and accents despite their sheer quantity and density. Tucker’s vocals at times appear sluggish alongside the breakneck tempos, but his gun-for-hire trademark style remains unmistakable.

One can’t deny both the talent behind the instrumentation nor the enthusiasm and effort these musicians have put into this release. But to an extent it suffers from similar shortcomings to Angelcorpse, a hyperactive desire to throw as much material at the listener as possible without necessarily coordinating these individual elements into a coherent statement. Comparisons to Morbid Angel are inevitable given the pedigree, to the point where it almost feels unconscious for these musicians living in the shadow of such a titan. It’s ironic therefore that Malefic Throne are at their strongest when they more consciously try to mimic the undulating pulsations of Azagthoth and Sandoval. Sharp melodic runs, slow, Lovecraftian passages defined by distinctive guitar leads and a rare chance to see Longstreth apply his abilities to lower tempo measures. This is where the music shines despite its obviously derivative nature.

Despite the immediacy, energy, and intensity of this material, I suspect it will prove more interesting for scholars of – particularly American – death metal for what it reveals about influence, history, and the developing techniques of its individual members. Across its many tangents and deviations, there is much to enjoy and immerse oneself in throughout ‘The Conquering Darkness’. But given just how many ideas are mainlined into us across a single track, one gets the impression that this is more by luck than design. The result is an academic curiosity with present but limited artistic merits.