Presenting their latest tale of post-apocalyptic mutation per the ongoing deformity of the human race pending complete extinction Yonkers, New York-based brutal technical death metal quartet MALIGNANCY promise a grinding, technical thresher on this much anticipated fourth full-length album. A legendary monstrosity to brutal death heads and NYDM fanatics in the know and a noted name to all else the expectations are set high for these folks heading into ‘…Discontinued‘ and without question their standards remain well above the status quo even when remaining steadfast to the old ways. Timelessly extreme as a fixture of belligerently achieved yet intelligently designed death metal with an anxietous pulse we get a nowadays version of their gig presented here without compromise but not without some sense of ongoing mutation in hand.

Malignancy formed circa 1992 after briefly being known as Carcinogen and their work can generally be included in the short list of death metal bands out of their town early on with a very early tape from Rigor Mortis being the first viable and groups like Deathrune and of course Mortician bringing some early days brutality to the region. The first demo tape (‘Eaten Out From Within‘, 1993) from what we’ll call the locus or short-lived Mark I quartet formation of the group was in a recognizable brutal death metal style. That’d been their big release to start before the far more technical, fully-formed cognition of the band had arrived a couple of line-ups later with their second tape (‘Ignorance is Bliss‘, 1997) and if you’re a brutal death head that one is legendary. Around that time Roger Beaujard (Mortician) was their drummer and guitarist Ron Kachnic had taken their sound to an insane level of groove and technicality, producing one of the most slept-on tapes out of that whole scene from my point of view. You had to be nuts to stand out doing this type of death metal at the time and these folks had that edge going into their legendary debut full-length (‘Intrauterine Cannibalism‘, 1999). No doubt most people remember this band from that first album’s lineup, the songs they’d been working on for about five years, and the ear shredding noise of its render.

Any hype for a new record from Malignancy will see many folks jumping right back to that first record as the standard-bearer without as much immediate regard for the two LPs that arrived intermittently with various line-up changes beyond that point. Between that record and ‘Path of the Weakening‘ (and of course ‘Pierced From Within‘ several years prior) I’d been made a brutal-technical death metal fanatic that year and still hold this band as favorites and a standard set for the horrid, dry heaviness and blunt but weirdly swinging speed with which they bludgeon that early material. By the late 2000’s they’d on-boarded longtime drummer Mike Heller (Raven, Azure Emote, ex-Fear Factory, et al.) and had bassist Lance Snyder engineering all of their records ’til they’d managed a sophomore full-length (‘Inhuman Grotesqueries‘, 2007) a record which’d proven their debut wasn’t a fluke in terms of intensity but they’d doubled down on technical, moshable aggression beyond the harried grooves of the first album. And I’d suggest at this point that’d been where the signature groove n’ mania of the band had developed, reaching an equally skull-rattling level of extremity through a slowly evolved sound.

From that apex it was more a matter of changing things up than it was rewriting what they were all about as ‘Eugenics‘ (2012) switched up the production values, becoming more attuned to the tech-death dynamic of the time and modifying the sound (but not the style) of the band almost entirely. At this point it has been twelve years since that third LP and five years since their full re-recording of ‘Intrauterine Cannibalism‘ in 2019, leaving the longtime fandom less able to predict what comes next as their work continues to be quality over quantity, fewer and further between, but always a damned nuke when it does happen. The main hype for a new Malignancy record, or, the expectation is a high standard of brutality where both technique and groove-driven guitar work are compressed down a pipeline at an abrasive clip. ‘…Discontinued‘ meets those expectations from the first song (“Existential Dread”) not having wildly tweaked their laser focused attack so much as they’ve changed up the production values (via separate recording sessions + mix/master from Lasse Lammert‘s LSD-Studio) finding a new balance between outrageous caustic aggression and some readable finesse allowed each of the four musicians involved.

If you listen to goddamned everything and are prone glaze over beneath the generica of standard VST profiles there’ll be something cutting, a stab right to the psyche as the ‘The Great Southern Trendkill‘ shotgunned riffs and fast-weaving hand of Kachnic hypnotizes with the opening composition of “Existential Dread” not only for the muscled-up groove metallic drive of the piece to start but for the awe of the sound being pulled from the guitar itself. How they’ve managed to make a four minute song feel like it’d struck in thirty seconds or less is all in the details and the thrill of the pace achieved. Though we aren’t getting the hollow, sheet metal walls and concrete floor level grind of ‘Intrauterine Cannibalism‘ here in terms of production values we -do- get the full machine, all of its parts, rendered in shared space. This dynamic sense of each component, including session bass guitar work from Jacob Schmidt (Defeated Sanity), isn’t likely necessary for the long-time fandom who appreciate extra stink and jank on some level for the sake of character… but it goes a long way toward revealing the detail of the larger thread as Malignancy absolutely blaze through each piece.

There are a thousand details to feature in every piece but generally speaking I’d appreciated the bass-driven groove of “Binary Paradigm” off the bat and the grinding, hardcorish edge of “Purity of Purpose” felt like something somewhat freshly blunt but also fittingly done in Malignancy‘s hand, capping off the first half of the experience with enough of a percussive hit to keep the brain from shutting down. The sheer intensity of the band’s work is still a lot to take in and adapt to but again the production eases that induction, rather than rattling the skull with a noxious sense of space it is up to the guitar work to mostly carry out the real murderous, ear-ripping action and per my favorite overall piece (“Ancillary Biorhythms”) it feels like what ‘…Discontinued‘ does best is document the band’s specific style without obfuscating it.

Side B is even more intense than the first half in terms of pieces with odd-metered movement compounded by an increase in speed with the deathgrinding fanaticism of “Haunted Symmetry” feeling like a strike back to the mid-2000’s level of insanity brought by the early days of groups like Origin. Otherwise I particularly like this lower, more gutturally presented side of vocalist Danny Nelson‘s performance who is probably at his most readable on this album, to the point that a lyric sheet shouldn’t be necessary for most. As we step through the final three pieces I’d felt the biggest curveball (excepting maniac closer “Biological Absurdity”) in terms of the technical side of the band was “Decomposing Divinity” where simpler dragging grooves extend into a ranting, seemingly non-linear sense of movement which spirals out as the song progresses. At that peaking level of intensity and intrigue I’d say Malignancy are at their best when they’ve arrived right at the ceiling of still-palatable chaos though one could easily argue the most memorable stuff happens within the first three or so songs.

The full listen of ‘…Discontinued‘ takes maybe one break to present one clip/quote (via the Altered Carbon series) throughout its nine song ~34 minute burst and as such you’re either going to be in it for the details, the maniac groove of it all, or likely bullied out of it by both per the sheer punish Malignancy present up front. I’d definitely fatigued out early on in the process of combing through the details but found myself returning to the record for its greater anxietous effect and the rush of its brutal-yet-finessed touch, eventually appreciating the details as they’d naturally called for attention. Though this is still a band for the real brutal death heads this record fits squarely in their discography per their signature nodes, stands out for its prime sound design, and does well to uphold their fine reputation. A high recommendation.

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