The last time Portugal’s Malevolence released a full-length President Bill Clinton was still basking in acquittal glow for semenizing Monica Lewinsky. If Lewinsky (or the scandal name “Tailgate”) don’t ring a bell, well, you’re probably too young. Of course, we don’t expect you to recall Malevolence, whose Martyrialized full-length ultimately got lost in the melodic death metal shuffle 15 years ago.
Well, the Portuguese have returned, with an updated sound, a new penchant for wild guitar sweeps and cold steel-like violence. Parallels could be made to unsung Italians Sadist or pre-annoying Textures or late phase Scarve, but there’s far more to Malevolence’s modern metal melange. The group’s melodic death metal past creeps in from time to time, informing and improving the staccato riff assemblies and march-like rhythmic back end. And speaking of back end, drum god Dirk Verbeuren is on skins, so there’s no slouching in that department.
Audio after the jump…
“Antithetical is loaded with intoxicatingly corrosive contrasts whilst the album represents pure rebellion,” says main brain Carlos Cariano, “a pure nonconformist extension towards the current situation of the globe, an upheaval towards the current language that has no force of expression and no meaning, due to the predictability of words and counterfeit actions that have become commonplace worldwide. Inner strength and living values nowadays are negatively base underneath relative truths and we are expressing ourselves precisely antithetically whilst insisting on critical thinking.”
With all that in mind, here’s Antithetical:
** Malevolence’s new album Antithetical is out now on Carbon Medien. It’s available HERE from iTunes. Fans of Sadist, Kalisia, and Textures take notice!
