Mankind’s inclination towards evil has rarely so righteously foamed from as many willingly dogged throats as we find today, at least not with such potently unfocused primal reactivity, and from the perspective of Umeå, Sweden-based black metal quintet MALAKHIM the increasing bray of the hoard offers reason enough to task themselves with a second raising of the mirror to the afflicted, revealing the snarling retch of the devil in devotion on this sophomore full-length album. As their collective consciousness expands and the doctrine of ‘And In Our Hearts the Devil Sings‘ needles in ear the message is crystalline that no reversal of fate or fortune is available down this path. Consistent in purpose, render and personage for a ~decade now we can consider this troupe’s work a multi-generational concoct guided by ancient standards and severely stated purpose, the level of conviction and riffcraft upholding and expanding on classicist ideation toward admirable result.

Sworn to Satan’s fire since 2016 Malakhim began discussions of a new project in 2015 where Flagellant vocalist E. and folks you’ll recognize from Naglfar and (more recently) Death Pulsation aligned in black metal ideation, bearing traits found in early second wave Swedish scenery as well as orthodox black metal reclaimant. From the outset, or, the reveal of their debut demo (‘I‘, 2017) I’ve been impressed by both their unfettered approach to the riff as well as the ideology expressed. Per their debut EP (‘II‘, 2019) I’d commented: “At times I’m reminded of The Black, Svartsyn, and Funeral Mist along some of the more classic ’94-’96 era of Swedish melodic black metal.” suggesting that the EP was “a great sign of things to come and a truly fine piece of intense and varied black metal.” Rather than speak niceties to potential it was clear their capabilities were above average as their debut LP (‘Theion‘, 2021) released gaining a fair deal of praise on my end per its guitar work which’d benefitted from chaotic atmospheric layering and hollow-struck rhythms, a threat from the moment it’d approached. It’d be fair to approach album number two with similar expectations where shocks of death and speed metal inspired movements help to keep a focused, largely linear presentation trampling along and divergent from similarly described bands (re: Valkyrja, Watain.)

Sinister majesty is probably the best way to describe the haunting engulf presented by opener/title track “And in Our Hearts the Devil Sings” as the nearly eight minute piece arrives with menacing fanfare before cutting into its basal groove, a simple enough progression which is then expanded into wandering tangent and tirade throughout the piece. As their ghostly daemonic cull rips through the ruins I’m not sure I’d go as far as to describe the tone of Malakhim‘s work as anthemic though there is some melodious funneling via the riff throughout this piece. “Solar Crucifixion” achieves similarly motion’d gloom after it carrying a galloping, sword-raising temperament to some degree but is just one shade of the two guitarist’s writ of rhythmic shapes where a tragedian lilt probably dominates their most profound songcraft here.

Deciphering the tone of ‘And In Our Hearts the Devil Sings‘ isn’t so challenging, nothing is obscured herein, but it does feel like they’ve designed a devotional result which is less willing to choose between points of atmospheric mania and hard-struck aggression. For my own taste “Angel of the Bottomless Pit” is the piece which best exemplifies the lack of compromise available to Malakhim‘s work, a song which may very well present familiar tones but oscillates their second wave specific impact within vocal outburst and even some melodious uprising. I don’t know that we get a “single” from this album, an obvious standout from the rest per one riff or hook, but that may be inherent to the design of all of their work thus far as a contiguous form is built from rallies and rants which are then sealed by more patiently articulated forms. Pairing “Angel of the Bottomless Pit” with “Hearts Ablaze” in succession most clearly speaks to this.

Nothing is left purely to chance within Malakhim‘s realm and what I mean is that their work has become steadily tightened in performance and in render per collaboration with M. Norman (Ancient Wisdom, Bewitched, et al.) who has worked as general producer/engineer etc. with the band from their inception. In this sense any surprises, sharp corners turned and/or interruptus occur within composition and performance rather than any particular extremes of sound design. This allows ‘And In Our Hearts the Devil Sings‘ to appear as a continuation of the band’s previous conversation, a familiar enough voice well indoctrinated in various Swedish black metal traditions which exists within similar venue. Though we could accuse this album of appearing more polished in every respect the band’s own effect is preserved in the process where this level of consistency and care is unusual in the realm of serious/viable black metal. Likewise it is worth mentioning cover artwork from K. Pavleska is well chosen to suit the atmosphere and tone of the album.

There is some great value in taking on the depth of the lyrics and symbolism available to ‘And In Our Hearts the Devil Sings‘ but if you’d choose to engage with it solely for its guitar work, at times unhinged vocals and the general spectacle on offer Malakhim should still impress the attuned black metal ear. For my own taste this is even more of a step above average than ‘Theion‘ was before it while reinforcing the central voice of the band. There are sublime moments which’re stoked by tradition and others which surprise for their own dramatic bent beyond and in this way there is some satisfying flexion available to this work. A high recommendation.

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