Portuguese extreme metal act Malevolence have announced the long-awaited vinyl release of their 2013 album "Antithetical", due out on September 13th via Firecum Records. Reflecting on the past eight years since Malevolence released "Antithetical", it's amazing just how much has happened in the metal scene and how music has evolved in what we can consider being a short amount of time. Back in 2013, some of us had the opportunity to witness first-hand the great technical and human undertaking accomplished by the Portugal heavyweights. As the years progressed, and as we get the chance to relive it after years of being continually consumed by large amounts of audio greatness, "Antithetical" still manages to sound ahead of its time, as the band focused on mining the depths of death, doom, black and progressive metal while sliding into groovier territories to put together a brilliant concept. To this day, no other Portuguese band managed to show such level of imagination or the capacity to marry ominous atmospheres and crushing melodies with metal in such elegant harmony as Malevolence did. Make no mistake, this is a bold and pounding sonic mass capable of destroying any world-class altar, opening its way for an explosive second coming to blossom into a key progressive metal act. From the solemn keyboard textures of Paulo Pereira to the powerful wall of sound created by the Hell-tinged riffing of Carlos Cariano and Fred Noel, together with an intense rhythm section operated by none other than Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth) and Moonspell's bassist Aires Pereira, and with the addition of the studio work from V. Santura (Triptykon, Obscura, Dark Fortress, Pestilence), "Antithetical" is a record to be worshipped! |
