There’s a thinking that metal revels in negativity, which is something that absolutely is not true as a whole. There is plenty in the genre that can make your blood rush and change your mind frame for the better, and it’s been this way from the start. But there is darkness in other corners as well as danger, and if you wander into some place unfriendly, it can be the end of you.

OK, that’s a little much, granted, but I implore you to tackle “Malefic Obliteration,” the debut EP from misery-inducing black metal force Disimperium and tell me you don’t feel an extra anxiety boost, another level of trauma that you didn’t need. This is vicious and blackening, which should go without saying considering the sub-genre, but you need to take this warning seriously, because these three tracks absolutely deface and promise uncompromising power. The band brings together members of Ascended Dead and Misrule, and the playing here crushes wills and tests psyches in order to figure out who can survive such an onslaught.

The title track heats up and crushes right off the bat as the growls mangle, and the playing turns into a pulverizing force. Things turn seedy and horrific as the guitars boil and sizzle, spilling guts right into “Fuming Nexus” where the drums plaster you. The track is ungodly violent and heavy, making it feel like the oxygen has been sucked from the room, and you’re writhing for air. The playing goes off as it feels like bricks are being torn from buildings, the leads squeal, and the track ends in numbing misery. “Infernal Machine” ends the record, and right away it’s a slaughter as the growls hammer, and it feels like you’re in the midst of a non-stop beating. Hell erupts as the weight and chaos get more immersive as the earth beneath you seemingly implodes. Pressure mounts, hell bubbles through cracks in the earth, and noise rises and suffocates.

Chaos and negativity are two things you are promised by Disimperium on “Malefic Obliteration,” one of the most fittingly titled collections of music perhaps ever. This feels like a devoured-earth policy come to maim and deliver nothing but broken bones and salt in your wounds, leaving you burning out of control. This is merely a 12-minute EP, yet it carries with it the weight of the world and the promise of physical and psychological violence.  

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/disimperium

To buy the album, go here: http://sentientruin.com/releases/disimperium-malefic-obliteration

For more on the label, go here: http://sentientruin.com/