Things are so bleak and seemingly hopeless that you kind of have to laugh at it sometimes. What a shit pile. What goddamn parasites we have as our leaders. What a sickening society those bottom feeders have developed. If you can’t make a joke about it or be morbidly sarcastic, then it’s just horrors through and through. That can’t be good for you.

Irish death metal power Malthusian stared into the same dark abyss as we have, and they’ve used that disgust to conjure “The Summoning Bell,” a goddamn great record in a time of endless tumult. Draped over this record is death metal that feels warped and stretched into psychosis, and while the content here is pitch black, there also is dark humor wrapped into this, something you might miss if you don’t have the words. The band—guitarist/vocalist MB, guitarist TMK, bassist FB, drummer JK—builds on their already molten foundation they set on their 2018 debut “Across Deaths” and ensures that everything they create is encased in concrete and is ready to handle any oncoming attack.

“Isolation” is an instrumental opener awash in eeriness and strange auras, giving off a bit of a fantasy feel, but in an apocalyptic sense. Then we’re toward “Red, Waiting” that delivers instant fury, beastly playing driving your face into the earth, growls corroding alongside gutting power. Guitars stir as the pits of lava bubble, crumbling as roars send punches under your ribs, doomy fires spreading. The last moments are torn apart, folding on each other before disappearing into the earth. “Between Dens and Ruins” unloads, guitars storming as the roars mash, a relentless attack laying waste to your body and mind. Vile howls tear into sanity as the universe feels like it’s being torn apart, everything zapping into endlessness. The title track pours more doom thunder, the growls aching as the density multiplies, soot building up in your lungs. The leads destroy as hellish pressure causes dizzying conditions, monstrous howls buckle your knees, and a spiraling fury ends in a pool of horrors.

“The Onset of the Death of Man” is a quick instrumental, a chance to regain your footing as guitars trace in the dark, and the fog builds to troubling levels. “Eroded Into Superstition” attacks right away, the growls smothering, clubbing with viciousness and guitars that lather before going mystical. The pace reignites as the growls strangle, wild yells fold into psychosis, and the finish swallows you into hell. “Amongst the Swarms of Vermin” is a mammoth at 15:31, and it’s dark, trudging, and heated coming out of the gates, thrashing as guitars choke, and the shrieks rain fire. Meaty chaos arrives as guitars jar and melt, the pace then grinding a little slower but just as oppressively. Growls corrode as the guitars continue to fray, bruising as the tempo feels a little off kilter, increasing your body temperature. Guitars dart as growls mangle and choke, delivering a final gasp of infernal chaos that blackens eyes. Closer “In Chaos, Exult” is a strange one, a mostly instrumental piece (you can hear detached cries in the mix) that forms like an alien being, surrounding your mind with blackness. The back end feels like a fever dream, disturbing visions clouding your mind, keys layering and making your comfort levels plummet, slowly melting into time.

Malthusian’s death metal feels like it takes over every cell in your body, weighing down on you, making breathing a chore. “The Summoning Bell” is quite the force to behold as it’s a record that pours generous amounts of darkness and embodies the harshest elements of death metal when inspired by ashes. This is as heavy as it comes, and if you let it consume you fully, it’ll take forever to dig yourself out of your own grave.

For more on the band, go here: https://malthusian.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://www.relapse.com/pages/malthusian-the-summoning-bell

For more on the label, go here: https://www.relapse.com/