In an act of cruelest havoc upon the firmament above a strike of vengeful annihilation rains down unto fiery cataclysm below as Florida-based death metal trio MALEFIC THRONE dominate the skies with an imposing, fire-breathing debut full-length album. Though it comes calling from the light-flooded mouth of the shining one ‘The Conquering Darkness‘ is yet unreasonably physical in achieving its spectacularly ruthless style, a timeless form of death metal accelerated to peak impact and riff-count while calling down unreal blasphemy. While I’ll pay no mind to the bunk-ass idea of a “supergroup” mattering beyond material… in this case both the familiarity between and infamy of the folks involved in this work weigh heavily upon the sublimity of its outcome, achieving one of the most wrathful releases of the year by way of seeming effortless mastery.

Malefic Throne formed back in the middle of plague year MMXX between revered guitarist Gene Palubicki (Perdition Temple) his former Angelcorpse bandmate drummer John Longstreth (Origin, Hate Eternal) alongside vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker (ex-Warfather, ex-Ceremony) who is best known as frontman for Morbid Angel. The suggestion made was that they’d all first met and hung out in Morrisound Studios back in ’97 during the late year tracking of both ‘Exterminate‘ and ‘Formulas Fatal to the Flesh‘ but the opportunity to work together didn’t fully make sense ’til a couple decades later when all three were set aground from any live duties due to mass pandemia. Not long after they’d managed an EP (‘Malefic Throne‘, 2022) a first strike that’d crushed through a dense set of heavier grooves, tightly technical movements and an almost overactive maniac push through them all, kinda making good on what you’d expect the collision of their worlds might’ve been a couple of decades ago.

‘The Conquering Darkness‘ doesn’t necessarily replicate the exact sound and force of ‘Malefic Throne‘ so much as it delivers their triskelion unto exponential furor and flow via less congested production values (engineering, mix/master from Colin Marson @ Menegroth the Thousand Caves) and even more tightly writ pieces. The effect is not unlike the hyper evolution of second and third gen death metal canon into militance, a style which is entirely relevant to Malefic Throne‘s collective contributions to both 90’s and early 2000’s death metal which we can place alongside achievements from Brazilian, Polish, and Dutch magnates of similar mindset. Fans of Centurian in particular should instantly appreciate the trampling, throttled press through these groove-braced attacks which avoid any sort of riff-salad approach per an impressive death-thrashing flow, particularly as the first three songs resonate with brutality and fleet-fingered riffcraft alike. By the time “The Voice of My Ghost” had finished on my first pass through I was reaching for a number of albums in my collection trying to figure if those’d been as furiously nuked but also kinda groove chunked as this.

While I was already jumping out of my skin via the clobbered rolls that kick off opener “Blasphémait Desecration”, especially around ~1:07 minutes in, the way that ‘The Conquering Darkness‘ shreds through its first three songs and continues to escalate its insanity ’til “Athirst for Dissonance” takes ahold would prove one of my favorite on-album runs this year. That third song is the mind-flayer, the point where all of those familiar moving parts began to generate more distinction between some of the most brain rippling riffs and the enormous transition into the song’s final third, it serves a ride which transcends the mechanistic functions grinding into place and serves a level of sinister mastery I’ve not heard anywhere else in at least a few years. Though I am already a fan of basically everything these folks’ve done dating back to the late 90’s something about their combined force here just kicked my ass out the gates and as a result stuck in mind.

On a similar note if you’re already a Perdition Temple fan of course you’ll hear Palubicki‘s hand applied to these arrangements but it doesn’t hurt that he’s released that band’s latest record on the same day as you’ll find setting ‘Malign Apotheosis‘ directly next to ‘The Conquering Darkness‘ highlights both how similar and yet completely different Malefic Throne‘s approach is. From wah-pedal wrenched leads to Longstreth‘s trademark jackhammer whip it does sound like they’ve not only thought about what this trio can bring differently with similar intensity but it feels like each member is represented despite the wall-to-wall intensity served; While we don’t get the trade off between Tucker‘s roar and Palubicki‘s snarl as often as their EP we do get even more active command from the former which you’ll find pings in mind when space is given, such as certain verses on “Divine Tragedy” in between the rhythmic maelstrom served otherwise. That isn’t to suggest that our passage onto Side B lets up, in fact I’d argue these folks crank their militant pace and technical frontage even more on the last four or so pieces with “Carnage of the Forgotten” being the brazen nuke which locks in tightest.

‘The Conquering Darkness‘ is one of maybe five death metal records released this year where I could name and timestamp my favorite riffs throughout the record nearly off the top of my head, partly because I’d found it all that repeatable as a full listen but also the density and quality of their riffcraft. That should hint at what’d driven me to this album in terms of hype overall but I don’t want to downplay how much synergy with the rest of the trio counts toward its impact. If there is a song that best captures the interplay suggested by Malefic Throne‘s EP, brings in the personage and techniques of all three actors it is probably extended closer “Forged of Stone”, also the one piece that I think has the most Ancient Ones sourced blood running through its carve. It also serves as a dramatic yet punishing closer, an endpoint which lands damage on the level of the opener while carrying its roll for an admirable eight plus minutes without collapsing under its own tension.

Beyond points of canon-amped style, the sheer spectacle of movement applied, the flex of their machine gun built songcraft, the brilliant album artwork from Daniele Valeriani, and the respectable histories of these folks involved I’d have to make an additional point of championing the level of care applied to the sequencing and impact of the running order here as an extra-level trait which sets ‘The Conquering Darkness‘ apart. The flow of the experience is arguably a symptom of the flow of their compositions but either way the confrontational nature of Malefic Throne‘s work is not without nuance despite its density and in this sense it feels like their work capitulates upon the interest of any associated fandom while finding its own ideal cut through that level of creation. The attention and care paid to the overall experience beyond slashing through only became more obvious with repeated listens and it was worth that extra effort as these folks’ve ultimately served one of the best death metal records of the year for my own taste. A very high recommendation.

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