Malhkebre – ‘Prostration’ Album Review

So….. A Satanic Black Metal EP.
From France.
And it’s a ritual.
Half of it’s in French.

Actually, that last bit doesn’t really matter quite so much, since, well, it’s black metal, and even with the lyric sheet, it’s hard work to work out exactly what’s going on.

But that’s ‘True’ Satanic BM for you.

And Malhkebre seem pretty ‘true’ from where I’m sat.

I reckon it all boils down to taste. To be honest, that first sentence will have told you everything you really need to know here. If you’re not a BM fan, don’t bother. If Satanism offends you, seriously – don’t bother.

The trouble is, I’m pretty sure there are two subjects that are a wee bit on the touchy side for nearly everyone. There’s religion, and I’m pretty sure we know where Malhkebre lie on this.

And there’s politics. I hope they didn’t vote for Sarkozy. That’s all I’m gonna say on the matter.

Sorry.
The ‘Prostration’ Review.

The 4 tracks on the EP seem to form a satanic invocation, of sorts, which I have to admit is a novel approach to a musical career.

Stylistically it’s OLD-school black metal – the sort of thing you want if you think Emperor sold out, or Mayhem weren’t edgy enough.

It’s the sort of record where you do tend to get the chills, Darkthrone style chills, at every tempo change. The production here is cleaner though, which picks out Berzerks every shriek and monastic groan with a clarity a lot of BM could do with.

For me, the EP’s two stand out tracks are the two with English lyrics – ‘Nothingness way’ and ‘Obscurus Religiosus’, which build slowly, before erupting into a frenzy of blastbeats and howls. They’re ice cold and furious, and VERY, VERY far from any more cheap Norwegian comparisons.

There’s a ‘However’, and it’s a big however. It’s all deeply unsettling, even for glacial black metal.  This may well be that the personal nature of the recording leaves you on edge – a bit like reading someone’s diary….. when they’re describing a deeply personal ritual……

Some people will get a kick out of that.

Some won’t.

‘Prostration’ is well worth checking out, IF

a)      You like True Black Metal

b)      The idea of Satanism doesn’t send you back to a church you don’t believe in.

Otherwise, this will probably be a bit lost on you.

http://www.myspace.com/malhkebre