Malfeitor
Incubus

THE REVIEW

After impressing us in 2007 with the fierce and more than positive debut album "Unio Mystica Maxima", Malfeitor, a quintessential Italian Black Metal band led by Fabban, who is already the mind behind the more experimental Aborym, returns in 2009. Contrary to what some might think, this is not just his simple, less experimental side project but a new and highly valuable extreme tricolored reality.

If the debut album consisted of very violent and straightforward tracks, this second episode entitled "Incubus", is more considered and malevolent in its furious attacks, filled with negativity and suffering. This does not mean it's less violent, but it is simply the natural evolution of its predecessor. Fabban has improved greatly in vocal arrangement, the filthy and violent guitars, and the rest of the instruments accompanied by a warm and full production give us a devastating and indestructible Wall of Sound that towers over the tenacious productions of Marduk, Immortal, and the Norse company. And as if that weren't enough, Malfeitor’s music is imbued with a black and putrid aura, due to its occult and negative lyrics, inseparable from the music of "Incubus" in my opinion; these lyrics aren't the classic and too predictable "hail satan!, jesus die!, burn the church!", but as the authors themselves tell, they are real descents into V.I.T.R.I.O.L., references to the Kabbalah and the Sephiroth, to the most ancient deities, and to the darkest esotericism. And so, auditory stabs like the violent opener Down with me, or the second track Into the Qliphot of Golachab which starts slow and dark before exploding into a claustrophobic chaos of Screams and Blastbeats as is characteristic of the genre, come to the fore. Or yet Mysterious, Mystical, Majestic with its sinister melodies and synthetic choirs in the chorus, and the malevolent Dark Saturnian Chaos. In conclusion, there is the powerful Title-track and the long, noise-filled Antisaturno (Thùnapsù), another well-executed occult experiment explained in the superb artwork that accompanies the album.

Ultimately, "Incubus" is a very interesting album by an excellent Italian band, which should be listened to carefully in order to fully savor the various layers of its dark content.