Malignancy – …Discontinued Review

You ever twist yourself up into a contortionist’s knot and then bash yourself repeatedly in the skull with a crowbar for about a half-hour at a time?

No, of course you don’t. I mean, why would you…

…when Malignancy can do it for you.

Born in New York in the early 90s, Malignancy lives in the same realm as NYDM outfits like Suffocation and Immolation, and though they’ve not quite managed to garner the same high profile as those particular peers, any elusive heightened popular acclaim is certainly not due to lack of quality. One possible reason for that: They’re less prolific than any of those co-conspirators above – Malignancy has released only five full-lengths in thirty-plus years (and one of those twice), of which …Discontinued is the fifth, and the most recent since 2012’s Eugenics. So there aren’t many Malignancys, it’s true, but each of those five is a masterclass in intricate technical brutality, which brings us to a second possibility: Malignancy is a ball of confusion in the best possible way, a head-spinning run through finger-bending riff after pinch harmonic squeal after riff after oddball drum fill after gurgle after riff after scream after squeal after hyperblast and so on and on… There’s a lot going on here, but thankfully, all of it is killer.

Bringing the skronk from the first seconds, “Existential Dread” hits hard and fast, establishing instantly that much of Malignancy’s magic comes in the insane interplay between guitarist Ron Kachnic and drummer Mike Heller, whose parts spiral around one another in feats of tornadic virtuosity, shifting tempos seemingly at random and yet always together. On loan from Defeated Sanity, guest bassist Jacob Schmidt roils along beneath, moving with or against Kachnic’s eternally mutating riffage as the needs arise. The most obvious departure from previous efforts is in the enunciation of vocalist Danny Nelson – his gutturals are now clearer, less the garbled bursts that came around for Intrauterine Cannibalism way back when and more of a more traditional death metal attack, and though it does sacrifice one aspect of their earlier brutality, the newer cleaner growl works quite well, a forceful furnace blast atop the madness below.

From “Dread” onward, most of Discontinued’s thirty-three minutes spin by in a blisteringly blasting blur of those skittering riffs and drum fills. Mid-point “Purity Of Purpose” does slow things down from “frantic” to merely “somewhat frenzied,” though it counterintuitively increases its power in the process, the chunky weight of those more restrained moments only allowing for greater force in the release. “Ancillary Biorhythms” kicks it back up a notch, before the album’s second half drops highlight after highlight in “Haunted Symmetry” and “Biological Absurdity,” the latter with the most deviation in Nelson’s performance, adding some higher pitched growls to balance out.

Aside from the presence of Schmidt, all of the above is simply what Malignancy is and what Malignancy does. Malignancy may not move quickly, but when they death metal, they death metal on the same level as some of the greats, which makes them a great, too. (Transitive property, kids. Look it up.) In a way, an album like Discontinued is two in one: You can listen to it with your everyday brain, try to follow the rhythms or the riffs, spend hours thinking about them, wonder how they manage to keep it all together… or you can listen with your caveman brain, and let Malignancy pound you with rocks for half an hour, and you smile with every hit. However you want to listen to it…

The important thing is that you listen to it. Loud. And often.