Originally written by Dan Staige.
The worm struggles furiously after being impaled by a barbed fishing hook. It thrashes about in deep agony, attempting to establish a position where any amount of pain subsides. Relief is achieved momentarily only to have another segment twisted and impaled upon the baiting tool. It loses the ability to move a great percentage of its elastic chassis; only the head and rear remain free to wriggle freely in a desperate exertion to shed a hair of throbbing pain. Grainy brown innards and a clear mucous coat its swollen segments. It is cast into the brisk liquid to sink slowly to a demise composed of torture while drowning or being violently ripped apart and consumed by local aquatic vertebrates…
Such is the music of Malignancy. At its core is manic, technical brutal death metal sweating pinch harmonics profusely. Instability dominates as patterns are briefly established and evaporated. Songs constantly evolve forward and backward in what seems to be an effort to find a comfort zone, but never settle into it for more than five seconds. To some, this may present a challenge that is reluctantly accepted. It’s not easy listening to a Malignancy song; I imagine memorizing a deck of cards in order to be an easier task. But others may revel in the disorder. If you are breakdown focused, don’t bother. If you want melody, go away. If you want traditional structure and listenability, take a hike. If you want schizophrenic, chaotic, brain dissecting brutal death, then proceed.
How does Inhuman Grotesqueries compare to other Malignancy efforts? A super clean production that slightly tops Cross Species Transmutation is evident. A new percussionist brings a tighter drum sound with a slightly varying style and different tone. And there seems to be a few less 3.7 second chunk-downs (if you can actually keep track), but as far as the flying harmonics, they are integrated into every nook and cranny that is possible, which is typical Malignancy style, and the wacky assortment of death riffery remains. Something notably different however is the acoustic intro & outro, showing a more “sensitive” side to the bi-polar blasters. Basically, it’s Malignancy with a few minor touch ups and a new button pushed here and there. I guarantee that if you already find pleasure in listening to this band, that Inhuman Grotesqueries will do nothing but perpetuate that pleasure. Malignancy remains Malignancy, maintaining a style that has been staked and claimed as their own, which is a difficult task to accomplish in the realm of music known as brutal death metal. Their work is of high quality and I have no choice but to recommend it.
