Maloken don’t hang around, kicking off their album ‘Our astral circle’ with the sort of down-tuned, churning riff that Godflesh used to call their own. ‘Molten pantheon’ is indeed molten – a vicious track that takes brutal vocals and welds them to a brutal metal chassis powered by the deafening drum assault of Jakob Burstedt. However, Maloken aren’t the sort of band to make the ride easy and having come to grips with their damaging, full-metal-racket approach they strip all the elements away to leave only a single guitar jangling in the background – clearly this record is not one to digest in one sitting. Shifting from industrial grind to dirty, heavy groove with a disconcerting ease, Maloken are clearly a well-honed band.
‘Untitled I’ helpfully demonstrates quite how well-honed they are – an eerie opening suddenly bursting into monochrome sheets of rage with elements of Swedish masters Meshuggah lurking amidst the chords only for the whole track to slew left-field and play around with Fugazi-esque noise-rock before returning from whence it came. It’s absolutely exhilarating and quite exhausting, but thanks to the seamless feel of the track as a whole, never anything less than captivating. ‘Die fear will’, which sounds like something Max Cavelera would bark out on stage proves to be a monumental slab of metal, caught somewhere between the aforementioned Meshuggah, Opeth and Fugazi. Almost overwhelmingly complex, it drags together complex time signatures, riffs the size of mountains and a towering vocal performance from the Backstrom brothers (Kristoffer and Nicklas) who, along with Jakob founded the band. ‘Followers’ is up next, continuing in much the same vein, yet featuring unconventional guitar sounds which jar and buffet the listener.
‘Untitled II’ opens with a much mellower vibe, almost hinting at latter-day Sonic Youth with its unconventional chords and the myriad atmospheric touches the band seem to excel in. It’s a stunning song that takes in a variety of moods before ‘ebeoriemet’ is spat out, all thundering drums and cavorting guitars, riddled with the intense, hypnotic groove of Isis or Neurosis. ‘My enemy’ is, by contrast, an unremittingly violent track with one scratchy voice heralding the arrival of the rhythm section, yet even this song manages to throw a few sonic curveballs, reminding you once again of the sheer quality of a band who know how to rein in their sound, making the bludgeoning passages seem that much heavier.
‘Untitled III’ opens with the sort of drumming that Matt Cameron specialised in Soundgarden – powerful and almost tribal, while the music is quite astonishingly good. Final tarck 11”12 is a suitably grand finale, with the band switching between churning guitar and clean passages with ease – their grasp of dynamics is terrifying, their sheer ability shines out of every aching moment on this amazing record.
This is a brutal gem of a record, a glorious work of metallic art that surprises and draws on a massive range of diverse influences to create an art-rock melee that is astounding from the crunching opening to the lengthy final track. Packaged in a digi-pack, this is an excellent album which will undoubtedly be heard by far fewer people than it deserves. Find it, buy it and submerse yourself in the world of Maloken, they’re worth it!
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