Those of you into the more eclectic side of black metal have probably already realised that this UK band has taken their name from a Deathspell Omega tune that was on their ‘Paracletus’ album in 2010. That outfit is certainly more than enough for you to give this experimental and truly unique album a listen. Having members from Sea Mosquito and Amaltheia should also give you an indication as to where this band’s music is heading. Malconfort are wholly unsettling, their experimental take on black metal is nothing new as there are plenty of other acts purveying the style but Malconfort are on completely different plane altogether, almost in another universe with their unique and wholly intriguing song writing craft. Even the collage like album cover is strangely disturbing and fits with the musical ideology that the band has decided to go for. Bands like this can flounder very easily when trying something different but Malconfort are utter masters of their art fusing a myriad of genre elements into one seamless tapestry of beguiling sonic ingenuity.
Labelled as black metal at its core ‘Humanism’ virtually strips the genre back to its individual components and reassembles them with a raft of other touches the primary of which is jazz like fusions. This is not an easy listen, and it shouldn’t be, experimental metal should test your accepted norms, challenge the very essence of what you envisage within a genre and Malconfort has done that with consummate ease. The skilful playing and adroit arrangements ensure that the album is unsettling yet inherently catchy, disturbing yet saturated with psychedelic posturing. Nothing about this album conforms to recognised models and whilst there are black metal aspects to the album it delivers so much more besides. Opener ‘Compulsion (Ecstasy)’ offers the first glints of what to expect, its unorthodox styling is bewildering yet superbly executed as the track weaves in progressive elements alongside that jazz like fusion. Vocally it is harsh as even here the band has opted to utilise a variety of textures, from the typical blackened harsh tones to more serene and eerie whispered tonal styles. The music is plain strange at times but so proficiently sequenced you cannot fail to be mesmerised by its unerring complexity. In places I wrote down Opeth as a reference point but whilst the Swedes are more in line with progressive structuring this band takes the style and completely fuses it with far more experimental angles.
The groove riddled start to ‘Cruelty (Elation)’ consists of drums and a pulsing bass hook where a very eerie almost haunting guitar melody is inserted. Here the vocals take on that whispered tone that seem to change their position spatially in the mix. As it gradually evolves the blackened drone guitar work is presented and has that weirdly disturbing tone that pierces the mix. Even the virtual silent pause is creepy, as wind noises and a murmuring buzz is added replete with some extraordinary ghoulish guitar work and vocals. ‘Stain (Fantasy)’ follows and sinks the tone of the album into morosity yet still possessing that aura of catchiness. As it develops the harsh vocals thrust into the mix as does another unnerving guitar piece that seems to gradually intensify as the song progresses. Again I was thinking about Opeth, which the band most likely do not agree with me on, but I felt the influence is there even if only tangibly.
Slightly more uplifting ‘Rage (Indulgence)’ is weirdly drenched in that jazz like fusion, alongside spoken vocals and a psychedelic guitar melody. The off kilter tempos are another thing this album has in droves, nothing is as it seems, nothing is where you think it should be and nothing is in any way predictable as the band infest their songs with tenets that are just plain uncomfortable. I especially like how the vocals are so unassuming on the album even the harsher tones, as a sort of narrated style is produced in the song right before the abrupt pause to shift the second half of the song into more trance like realms. In fact quite a lot of the songs are sectioned into two halves with each being in contrast to the other yet still intrinsically cohesive.
‘Carnivore (God)’ has another drum opening, a simple beat, well for this band anyway, its haunting whispered vocals make the track sinister and foreboding. Like other tunes here it increasingly becomes more menacing, unfolding and refolding with each passing second before the bass pulse juts into the mix. The song is absolutely progressive on all fronts, the guitar work is quirky and catchy as they add copious amounts of twists and turns all writhing around the song’s core psychedelia. Closing the album is ‘Inertia (Condense)’ and like a few other tunes it starts with drum work, jazz like rhythms blended to the eerily presented guitar melodies. The closer is relatively short like the opener but is impregnated with some eccentric droning guitar riffs. Strangely hypnotic the song has spoken vocals added again that escalate the tension towards the closing minute or so where the guitar work is reined in slightly for a much more ominous closing phase.
I doubt any album will come close to the inventiveness exhibited on ‘Humanism’ by Malconfort, it is truly enthralling on all fronts, its ability to make you comfortable one minute then extremely uncomfortable the next is exceptional. It is not an easy listen as I have already stated but that should be enough for you to check the album out as I am certain you will be just as engrossed as I was.
(9/10 Martin Harris)
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