Reviews are useful, but there is no substitute for listening. Six days ago I gave very high marks to Below the Hengiform, the stunning new EP by Malthusian, and although I’m going to remind you of why I’m so enthusiastic about this release, the main purpose of this post is to give you the chance to hear all of it for yourselves.

First, the reminder: Below the Hengiform represents a large step forward for a band who had already made a striking debut with their 2013 demo. In addition to creating a powerful atmosphere of imminent catastrophe and generating overwhelming maelstroms of violent sound, Malthusian are doing what few practitioners of blackened death metal are able to do: They are crafting memorable songs.

They infiltrate their union of black, death, and doom with lead guitar melodies that are alien and poisonous, but that have genuine staying power, like some drug-resistant neurological plague. And they also have a knack for introducing physically compulsive grooves into the music — because there’s nothing wrong with getting a good headbang going while you contemplate the end of life as we know it.

Below the Hengiform features stunning cover art by Timo Ketola. It can be pre-ordered on CD from Invictus Productions at this location; the CD should be ready to ship on April 17, and tape and vinyl editions will follow. The EP can also be pre-ordered as a digital download here:

https://malthusian.bandcamp.com/album/below-the-hengiform

Visit Malthusian on Facebook via this link.