Review: Malignant Spirit – A Serpent To Devour, A Servant To Abhor
And let this be observed …In all truth
That this world renovates itself through the profane
As the old adage goes, your first impression is your last impression, and I can comfortably state that the album art for the debut album by newly formed group Malignant Spirit certainly ingrained an impression on me few are capable of. I found myself engrossed its horrid beauty including the underlying meanings I definitely understand without doubt. Artist Roberto Diaz crafts a piece that preys on base instinct with its enthralling wrongness crafted in the stylings of Bosch and Goya. With such a striking art piece chosen as one’s introductory handshake with a new musical project, it would be easy to feel the music included may struggle to match expectations.
Allow me to immediately salve any worries as A Serpent to Devour, A Servant to Abhor and its crafters come with a heady reputation before them. Including members from occult weirdos Veilburner, avant madness-inducing Venomous Echoes, and twisted nightmare visionary Sleep Paralysis, this foray into further genre-escaping escapades pushes deeper into dark unknowns. To fully grasp this album and its meanings would be equivalent to understanding an indescribable Lovecraftian being. Here you will have encounters with entities such as extended piano pieces, hissing chants, and extended psychosis-inducing, droning, atonal sections. All this leads to a listening experience akin to a reality-warping journey through unknowable darkness towards a distant, blurred destination.
But all this should come as no surprise to one familiar with those involved in crafting this album. Black metal that focuses on venturing into newer and unfamiliar territory is hardly a novel feat, as I believe it serves as the best metal genre suited for such things, but with Malignant Spirit, we are witness to three separate dissonant and experimental minds merging into a new being unto itself. However, this here is a high bar to clear in terms of listenability if music as near-punishment is something you aren’t seeking. (Like in the track “This is the Mystery of the Madonna” where the blasts and guitar wails give way to a 2 1/2-minute jaunt into occult howls and noise that persist consistently through slight background instrumental changes.) This is an experience that pushes the boundaries of what is even normally considered structured, or even musical within this singular track alone.
As with other “similar” albums in this outlier of outliers, the experience feels like something I appreciate rather than actively enjoy. When the artist’s attempt is to break down any and all barriers while remaining in the confines of a black metal archetype, the result can be intriguing if lacking in engagement. Your mind will drift during certain portions unless specifically focusing on intent listening, but I honestly feel that it is by design rather than mismanaged atmosphere; a true horror-tinged journey through dimensions of shifting reality of which we have minuscule understanding. A Serpent to Devour, A Servant to Abhor acts as strong an anchor as possible while dealing with dangerous and poorly understood rituals. A ritual mania infects the music at moments, injecting a fever-like dreamscape as in the ending section of “Wail! Wail! O’ Betrayal, Wail!” in which description falls short of experience.
While many trve dweebs cling to an outdated and stale view of the genre, the truth is that black metal is the desired vessel for untold examples of experimental expression and avant execution. While acts such as Voidthrone, Thantifaxath, and many others of a similar mindset strive to push constantly the boundaries of what is possible, with Malignant Spirit, we are first in line in witnessing the birth of something that also devours genre foundations. As for closing track “…Is to Crown the Wound That Will Never Heal,” it’s celebrating the arrival of darkened spirits from beyond viewable dimensions (I think) over a tumultuous 11 minutes that is best left described without spoilage just so you can have the pleasure yourself.
A conflict arises within me trying to parse the music and performances into something quantifiable rather than qualitative, like looking at unexplained phenomena and attempting to apply logic to something that defies it. You reach out in an attempt to grasp something that is ethereal, just as you foolishly try and contemplate the “music” Malignant Spirit manifest. Trained occultists may very well find themselves lost in the cosmic delirium that is this record, but be not afraid to partake in the trek yourself and see if you find yourself similarly engulfed in enigma.
3.5/5 Flaming Toilets of Hell
A Serpent to Devour, A Servant to Abhor releases 6 November via I, Voidhanger Records.
