Malefice, Dawn Of Reprisal, Album Review
Reading Based Metallers Return For Devastating Second Album
Apr 12, 2009
Since their 2007 debut release Entities, Malefice have obtained a well earned name for themselves in the metal syndicate. Following a string of tight and highly energetic live shows across the British Isles, the band have sought to uphold their reputation with the release of a second album.
Dawn of Reprisal may ultimately be the step needed to cement their place in metal across the rest of the world.
Influences Of the Band
Malefice aren’t shy about hiding their musical influences, and a strong metalcore element can be heard throughout both this and their first album. They sound in many parts like outfits such as Killswitch Engage, Unearth and God Forbid.
Their riffs meander from baffling technicalities to pounding palm mutes and triplets, and also have an abundance of melodic and hauntingly ambient interludes. On the whole, their latest album is the clear result of hard studio graft, a tightly bound outfit which is brought further to perfection by the production values of former SiKth members Justin Hill and Dan Wheller, In terms of musical clarity, they are a hard sounding five-piece, and this is certainly a difficult record to upstage.
Heavy Track Listing
From the very start, with opening track The Midas Effect, listeners will hear a more matured but no less intense sound compared to their last album, and the musical scope opens out with second track Abandon Hope.
By the time An Archietect Of Your Demise is through, newcomers to the band’s sound will find Malefice’s intentions perfectly clear. Only for brief interludes, in songs such as End of Day’s and Hatred Justified does anything close to calmness descend upon the sound of this album. Otherwise, it’s a neatly woven assault on the senses.
A Hard Band to Beat
Dawn of Reprisal essentially kicks off from where Entities left, with an improved clarity of song structure, a more engaging array of vocal talent and an even tighter display of hard hitting riffs. For this second venture, it seems that each band member has striven to improve their game, and it’s paid off. Malefice may often seem like a tribute to heavy metal past and present, effusing almost every convention the genre has to offer in one fluid act.
Although at times Dawn of Reprisal might come across more like of a homage to other bands rather than a sound onto itself, there is no doubt that Malefice are a force to be reckoned with. Now in a class of their own, audiences will find that few pull it off with this much expertise.
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