Malignant Aura is back for more.
Known for a time as Cursed by a Hag, before changing its name prior to the release of its first album, the Australian band led by Pete Robertson (drums, Irönwitch, ex-Awful Noise), Chris Clark (guitar, Sematary), Tim Smith (vocals, Arms of the Abyss) and Jonathan Ennis (bass, Vyrion) has signed with Memento Mori for the release of its second album, Where All of Worth Comes to Wither.
The album begins with a strange noise on Where All of Worth Comes to Wither, the eponymous track that barely exceeds three minutes, serving as an unsettling introduction where the first riffs slowly set in, offering a sound that is initially haunting thanks to the guitars, then heavier when the bass and drums join the slow movement. The band slowly weaves its leads until The Pathetic Festival suddenly thickens, offering a brutal acceleration but also a place for powerful vocals that make the track much more aggressive, accompanied by blast beats and scathing guitars. The Death Metal roots are perfectly exploited on this track, which doesn’t hesitate to slow down to oppress us, reinforcing the feeling of anxiety while developing its imposing but dissonant rhythm to better explode one last time, joining Languishing in the Perpetual Mire, which arrives very slowly. Violence finally takes over from the haunting tones before imposing itself once again, developing a very dark tone in its web of apathy, naturally haunted by growls, but the mix gives way once again to madness and gradually accelerates to become a block of protean darkness led by an unpredictable double kick before a more melancholic tone marks the end of the song, which is much more soothing. The intoxicating solo carries the song into nothingness, but Beneath a Crown of Anguish takes over, imposing its own rhythm where lethargy responds to virulence while taking advantage of threatening vocals or, conversely, integrating heady heavy influences that blend perfectly while coloring the composition with a lighter tone. As expected, the track still returns to its more unhealthy and heavy tendencies for an apocalyptic finale that collapses with feedback, Then An Abhorrent Path to Providence takes over and buries us in turn under its riffs, each slower and more distressing than the last, alternating double kick and intoxicating harmonics at different speeds while infusing a touch of melancholy that guides the track through its different waves and binds them together to reach even more miserable peaks, finally ending in a last dance.
If Malignant Aura seduced the underground scene with their first album, Where All of Worth Comes to Wither is sure to follow suit! Each riff is filled with sadness, heaviness, and intensity, creating three quarters of an hour of intoxicating sound.
90/100
