Embodying the enmity of a psyche obliterated by perpetual violence Melbourne, Australia-based death metal quartet VILE APPARITION reappear with grave injurious intent for this unconscionably bludgeoned sophomore full-length album. ‘Malignity‘ directly reflects the festering brutality of the mid-to-late ’90s death metal reality through acts which ride the axe-edge of irreversibly cruel pummeling and most key canon where every action is reduced to its most efficient state of high-primal misanthropy. That is to say that these ten songs bring the flair and fundament of auld classics once more but’ve been reskinned to better represent the riff-obsessed throttle in hand and deeper evolved to incorporate escalating skill to suit further heightened synchronicity.

Vile Apparition formed ca. 2017 as a duo between guitarist/vocalist J. Colic and drummer O. Ballantyne, both of whom featured in the later stages of now-defunct Sewercide as well as current or former members of labelmates Gutless, before expanding to a quartet that same year. Their first demo tape ‘Atrocious Captivity‘, 2017) offered ‘old school’ ideation per early 90’s death metal, brutal death metal and a sort of ‘Utopia Banished‘ haul of deathgrind kicked sounds. They’d even included a Defecation cover on their first split CD w/Incinerator (Poland) (2018) if that says anything alongside their association with Consumed in making an early case for the grinding edge of their interest as foundational component… though we could more firmly shove them into a brutal death metal pit beyond that point. Their debut LP (‘Depravity Ordained‘, 2019) was a real stabber, a fatly percussive hammer of brutality with guts-low vocal gurge and knife dragging riffs where mention of Cryptopsy, Deeds of Flesh and earlier Exmortem were warranted on my part via a positive review.

The only expectation set by past work per this follow-up was that it would contain some manner of 90’s brutal death metal maul as its core feature set, some kind of iteration upon Vile Apparition‘s hammer-smashed experience. If that kind of gear is in line with your interests you’ll get more than a kick out of ‘Malignity‘, despite sounding a shade more early-to-mid 90’s this one is no less of a killer. The brutal, skin-flaying realm of death metal sound design achieved here is less slam-thickened per its drum capture which now lends supportive surround for an album which posts fattened guitar tones and thrashed-out grooves as its key component. This hit my ears somewhere in between early 90’s NYDM (Suffocation, et al.) and Sinister‘s ‘Hate‘ thanks to some realistic room noise afforded the drum kit and way louder rhythm guitar nodes compared to ‘Depravity Ordained‘.

Much of a thrill as opener “Bloodletting” is for its imposing growling intro and leading pulverization it likewise signals a few equally key components of ‘Malignity‘ as a whole where sharply cut slapped bass hits, moshable riff transitions and lava-pumped lead guitar spikes straight outta ‘Formulas Fatal to the Flesh‘ keep every second packed with movement. While their groovier, quickly shot brutal death side is at full function on every piece beyond this isn’t a messy war metal record in terms of developing riffcraft, which we find congesting the lane and reversing its own phrasing on “White Room Torture” soon after as Vile Apparition‘s guitarists find their own cleverly cut lane in the midst of all being pummeled loose from its riser. Before the details start to add up and all of the finer points of this album, especially Side A, start to ring in mind I’d just as well sat through it a number of times for the sake of appreciating the brutal but unclean punish of their movement, the onslaught of it all as it’d trampled past.

You won’t have to go searching for standout pieces here beyond the adrenaline shunting neck-snappers that kick things off, every song here finds its impact and placement in some way but I’d be surprised if anyone’d overlook “Broken Minds” in particular for pull of its classic opening riff and invaginating vocal layers atop. The pinch harmonic aided lean of the its main verse riff and impressive bass guitar winding beyond begin to develop a sort of Faceless Burial worthy wind-up and tech-down to their grooves which I’d found a sublime endpoint for the first half of the spin. Just as vital is the Side B leader and probably the most thoroughly (early) Suffocation coded piece on the album, “The Essence of Malignity”, is where the real jaw-kicking moves start to hit. This is ideal point on the full listen to tout the general flow of arrangement and running order of ‘Malignity‘ where these shorter, harder-cut ~3-4 minute brutal death metal songs hit one after another. The passage between “The Essence of Malignity” and the Cryptopsy-hot bum rush of “Castrated Gods” is just one example of Vile Apparition‘s willingness to dislocate a few shoulders yanking folks along for the full listen.

While I don’t know if there is a true butt-mess to be found along the way I’d found “Thriving on Disease” stood out as one of a couple tracks on ‘Malignity‘ which break the ranks a bit and lash out into groove metal laze, moshable clunk which bears a sort of Internal Bleeding-esque swinging groove and of course a hardcore steppin’ pulse. Watery Azagthothian lead guitars sort of dial this back to mid-90’s Obituary for a second and help the piece gel with the full listen I’d found most of the album hits hardest before that song and its compounding bro-down via “Emulsifying Fleshpress“. None of that’ll bug brutal death lifers who’re most familiar with the late 90’s uptick of savagery and such but if you’re a pre-’95 or nothing type it’ll get a touch mosh metallic here and there before its over.

There was no denying Vile Apparition‘s latest the moment that first song hit its volcanic lead and ‘Voracious Contempt‘ worthy groove at once where the surreal and the violent mechanism driving ‘Malignity‘ was exposed like a raw nerve that’d remain firing off for the duration of its ~34 minutes. Any fan of the human-handed brutality of 90’s death metal will naturally appreciate the look, sound and friction of this record in passing but folks especially in tune with pre-millennium brutal death will be the exact target for this one. Count me in with that crowd but with some extra thumbs up given for the changes made to their sound design (drums esp.) and even more active ‘old school’ technical death nods found throughout. A very high recommendation.

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