The capital of US death metal did it again! Tampa, a city in Tampa Bay, Florida, is home to many great bands like Deicide, Morbid Angel, Obituary and many more proven bands. This review is about Perdition Temple, who also call this area their home.
That this land is fruitful of great acts is something that has been proven over and over again. This prosperity is also granted to this band. Malign apotheosis, the seventh release of this trio (Alex Blume, Gene Palubicki and Ron Parmer) and the fifth full length they have written will be released on the 28th of November this year through Hells headbangers records. The last full length was from 2020 called Sacraments of descension, a record that has been part of my playlist since that release date. The EP between these two full lengths has gone past me, but after listening to those tracks I can also recommend it (at least the four tracks of their own).
The sacraments album was also the first time I came into contact with Perdition temple, and as mentioned above it struck the right strings with me. No nonsense, fast, hard and direct, every track was memorable. The moment I saw this in our list of releases to review I dove into it, and my purse is a bit lighter because of it.
Malign Apotheosis
How does this album hold up to the previous full length album?
The first thing that I notice is the production, it is different from the work mentioned. It sounds more compacted and dense, the aggression is there, but it sounds more old school. After some back and forth between the mentioned Sacraments album and this new one, I think it is because of the sound of the guitars, they are less pierceful. This sound also fits the band greatly but I enjoyed the earlier sound more.
The sound is fine, not great. But what about the tracks?
No intro, directly into brutality (+10). We are greeted with fast and heavy death metal. After 10 seconds the vocals start. They are mixed well enough, it fits the music the band makes. The drums are pounding without mercy and the guitars are playful yet direct. The bass could be more on the creative side, but it does what it needs to do. It is a great backbone but I would love to hear this music with a more creative bass player. The vocals do not change that much, it is the same type of sound through the entire album. That does not make it a bad thing, as it fits the high intensity music very well.
Every track on this record has its own feeling and mood. After listening through the entire album about 5 times I can positively say that I enjoyed every playthrough. The mix of the latest album hooked me in, that is something that Malign Apotheosis misses. That does not make it a lesser album, the tracks are great. But I hope they will get back to the way they were before. The mix is too dense for me, the tracks are great, the mix is great. But this album will not be as active on my playlist.
Great album, great tracks, average production.
80/100
Perdition temple:
Facebook
Instagram
Bandcamp
Hells headbangers records:
Facebook
Instagram
Website