ALBUM REVIEW: Malthusian – The Summoning Bell

Irish black/death metallers Malthusian return with their second full length album of estranged and demented material. Out via Relapse Records on August 8th.

Bleak and unsettling cymbal swells and discordant guitars give an ominous and abyssal first taste of what is to come. Bludgeoning percussion and storms of unhinged riffs kick us straight in the face with malignant and warped extremity. From the roaring vocals to the tempest of obliterating guitars and drums, the immediate and vicious nature of this music becomes abundantly clear. Contorting strings add this sense of otherworldly atmosphere to the charnel death metal onslaught tastefully. Ferociously moving forward, each step is a blackened hymn of anguishing malice that grabs you by the jugular. Piercing solos mix with the dissonant hooks, blending both melody and chaos to conjure tense atmospherics at no cost to the savagery of the record. Having enjoying everything Malthusian have released thus far, I am confident from these early moments that “The Summoning Bell” will not see the band falter. The gargantuan production and intimidating artwork perfectly capture the behemoth of sound that is dropped upon your chest to summon great anxiety yet with twisted pleasure also to be found.

While the band have no problem endlessly streaming forth putrescent and unique death metal, there is no binding them to a single sound. Dismal blackened doom rings out in reverberate cacophonies betwixt the more aggressive moments. These sections paint funereal landscapes for the more violent urges to charge through. Many bands can clone that dissonant, cavernous or whatever adjective is being put in front of death metal this year. Few can achieve the cult legacy and profound discomfort that Malthusian has. Ireland has no shortage of supreme metal bands such as Coscradh, Vircolac, Sacrilegia and more; yet I think Malthusian was the one which really cemented Ireland’s place on the underground world’s radar. Some may be concerned that they have joined a larger record label like Relapse Records instead of the obvious choice with their long term home Invictus Productions. Thankfully it does not feel the bands vision has been tweaked so hopefully the change was amicable, because Invictus Productions remains one of my favourite labels around. Relapse of course is a very respectable name in the death metal world and Malthusian are inarguably deserving of the support this juggernaut can offer them. Getting back to the record, this thing only gets more twisted and alluring as we go on…

From the pounding to the drawn out, each element of this record valuably contrasts the others. The bestial solos and expansive riffs, the barbaric drums that are played with surprising finesse, the vocal delivery and its always well-executed pacing… this album has it all. While maybe some of the grit has been polished away, this is by no means an easy listen as a result. In fact, the sheer amount of nuance and high quality attention to detail is clear to witness for those daring enough to truly see. Of course the long nature of these songs and their inhuman meanderings may not suit fans of the more simplistic, but those who seek a really mind-bending and yet gruellingly intense listen will surely be ecstatic to hear this album. Malthusian sit among the more interesting bands of this vein such as Abyssal, Antediluvian, Portal, Impetuous Ritual and Mylingar – the bands which I feel offer more than dissonance for the sake of dissonance. The death, black and doom metal at the heart of these songs is smouldering while the eerier notes simply complement rather than overshadow this unbroken foundation. Until the last you will either squirm or smile at the disdainful offerings we are being presented. Either way, it will not be an experience easily shaken or forgotten.

An experience of disquiet and fury, molten extremity from the Irish underground flows forth on “The Summoning Bell” which is another superb cut of music from Malthusian. 2015’s “Below The Hengiform” is a release I still return to. This shows a band whose material has repeat value, not just something to stick on a best of the week list and forget. Now with two fantastic full lengths and an equally noteworthy split with Suffering Hour, Malthusian shows their ideas are being taken to the highest peaks the band can manage and this surely seems to be the next step up the mountain.