Malignant – Purity Through Putrefaction

January 2019 – Maggot Stomp

California has quite the legacy when it comes to death metal, spawning giants from the sand pits of the Mojave in the late 80s/early 90s with names like Exhumed, Terrorizer, Deeds of Flesh or Autopsy. While the legion of behemoths has migrated to greener pastures, there will always be tribute to be paid for those who tread the same sinuous paths – and Malignant have brought a sacrificial lamb to the altar of old-school death metal.

Purity Through Putrefaction may not fully fit the bill, yet with so many OSDM elements it's as if it came out 25 years ago. The vocal performance is even more thrash-leaning than a couple of predecessors, with the same signature airy rasp that defined early harsh vocals – but the lead tones really show the old school sensibilities – scooped mids (and bass), recorded a mile away then turned up, and a healthy dose of whammy abuse. The bass fills clipping did make me wonder whether this was a demo or an EP, but I'm sure it was done in the name of OSDM.

Songwriting isn't anything special, riffs do what they should without going overboard, drummer doesn't do anything too flashy – but Purity Through Putrefaction wasn't written to break the rules. It's a modern ode to the good old days, when death metal was a simpler, rawer affair. Every turn, change of pace and hook is predictable, but in a comforting way – it may be a writhing pile of flesh leaking ugly riffs, but it's mine and I feel at home in its stench. I'd just prefer horror movie clips to the Hollywood soundtrack intro we got.

As a side note, Maggot Stomp released this as their 6^th record, and the first five were all top-notch as well. It's refreshing to witness success stories from such humble beginnings in recent years, and an positive sign for death metal as a whole.

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