Fifth ceremony for Perdition Temple.
Three years after their last ritual, Gene Palubicki (guitar, Demonized, Malefic Throne, Hexorcist, ex-Angelcorpse), Ron Parmer (drums, Blightmass, Brutality, Malevolent Creation, ex-Amon) and Alex Blume (bass/vocals, Ares Kingdom, ex-Nepenthe, ex-Blasphemic Cruelty) deliver Malign Apotheosis, their fifth album.
The band wastes no time and attacks with Resurrect Damnation, a first composition that is already devastating in its introduction, as much for its frantic riffs as for its thick mix with obvious Old School roots, but also for the ferocious vocal assault that emanates from it. The sharp leads also fit in with this raw approach, which doesn’t hesitate to pick up speed, while Kingdoms of the Bloodstained offers a rhythm that is a little more measured at first but ultimately remains just as ferocious, flooding us with a dirty Black/Death-style blast. We barely have enough time to catch our breath, then Purging Conflagration takes over and offers its own wall of sound with similar roots, while offering more complex patterns at times that fit perfectly with the waves of rage already in place, then Death Insurrection returns to slightly simpler but equally catchy staccato riffs. We let ourselves be carried away by the flood of violence, frantically banging our heads, while the eponymous track Malign Apotheosis offers us an interesting groove, but ultimately broken by the trio’s very direct approach, which suits their communicative vengeance perfectly. Agony Unto Revelation takes over and returns to its chaotic but highly polished leads, which give it a very particular end-of-the-world flavor despite a slightly calmer passage, but the vociferations resume with a vengeance, leading us to Bellum Ab Infernum, which returns to martial tones. The drums remain as constant as ever, allowing for the appearance of scathing leads, and then it is with Fell Sorcery that the album experiences its last moments of dark rage. Although the song begins almost gently, it quickly degenerates into one of the hellish and uncontrollable waves we know so well, striking with all its might, while still allowing a few passages to let us catch our breath.
Black and Death Metal have rarely blended so well as they do with Perdition Temple! The band uses no artifice on Malign Apotheosis, simply its macabre creativity and its riffs thrown at full speed for an overwhelming result!
95/100
