Although the band were only formed a few years ago, they can trace their origins all the way back to the ‘90’s when Gene Palubicki (Angelcorpse, Perdition Temple), vocalist & bassist Steve Tucker (Morbid Angel) and drummer John Longstreth (Origin, Hate Eternal, ex-Angelcorpse) met in Morrisound in 1997. Both Angelcorpse and Morbid Angel were recording their own albums side by side, and although it took more than 20 years, here they are now in the same band.
It will be of no surprise to anyone that what we have here is classic death metal, and given the pedigree of those involved, this sounds like a band who have been around for years. Driven from the back by the octopus which is Longstreth: it is no wonder he is in so much demand with extreme bands as it is a constant assault, yet with nuances so that it just doesn’t sound like a wall of noise. He and Palubicki started playing together 30 years ago and one can sense the energy between them as they push each other to go that much harder and faster and in the middle there is Steve Tucker whose vocals and bass playing have been a major part of Morbid Angel’s sound for nearly 30 years (on and off, but he has been the constant since 2015). This is powerful stuff, punching hard, and blisteringly quick. In fact, it is so quick that Tucker sometimes appears a tad slow in his vocal delivery, but there is no doubt the end result is something which will certainly appeal to all fans of the classic American death metal sound. A goody.
Rating: 7/10
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/maleficthrone/
https://agoniarecords.com/