ALBUM REVIEW: Realms Of Exquisite Morbidity – Malignant Altar

That there’s a death metal renaissance going on is almost old news at this point, and there’s no shortage of bands vying for your attention. Whether it’s tech death, progressive or any other of the myriad of permutations on the genre, there’s simply a glut of bands and it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. Nowhere else is that more true than of the old school and more brutal camps of death metal; those that take their HM-2 worship or love of caveman riffs extremely seriously. On their debut full-length Realms Of Exquisite Morbidity, Texas’ MALIGNANT ALTAR prove they love both of those things equally, turning in a platter of gross-out, fetid death metal with an obscene amount of riffs, toilet-bowl growls and caveman attitude. 

At just six songs and 34 minutes, Realms Of Exquisite Morbidity isn’t interested in messing around, only creating one. Opener Channeling Impure Apparitions begins with the ringing of bells as if to signal the approach of some hideous being. The riff that follows it is a gut-churning earworm that sinks its hooks in with ease. Throughout the song, MALIGNANT ALTAR show a knack for writing riffs that are neither big nor clever, but are backed up by some deceptively complex drumming. Switching tempos regularly and injecting off-kilter, grooving fills, drummer Dobber Beverly shows a knack for keeping their rotten death metal from going off completely. Belial Rebirth is an excellent example of this, the intro to the song carried by crisp snare rolls that demand attention. Realms… is further strengthened by some excellent performances from guitarists Josh Bokemeyer and Beau Beasley; the dissonant, squealing solo of Usurping The Pantheon Crown, and the churning riff of Belial Rebirth has a death-doom feel that’s altogether unsettling. 

It’s not all glorious gross-out death metal though; the title track is in fact an ambient interlude that breaks up the aural pummelling, but at over two minutes without doing anything more than very gradually and only very slightly increasing in volume, there doesn’t seem to be much point to it. It’s a minor gripe, though, as it’s followed by the killer closing combination of Ceremonial Decapitator and Rite of Krasue, the former of which features more off-kilter snare fills that accentuate the bile-flecked growls and chugging guitars. What MALIGNANT ALTAR offer up is a platter of gore-soaked death metal with a bludgeoning, caveman atmosphere but enough complexity and variety in structures in songs to justify their often six-plus minute runtimes. 

All that in mind, Realms Of Exquisite Morbidity is an exercise in gross-out death metal, the sound of a band intent on serving up a filth-encrusted pile of offal that for all its grossness, is undeniably entertaining. Circling back to the bells that opened the album during Rite Of Krasue belies a sophistication to the song-writing that even the most obstinate, bludgeoning riff can’t hide. Building on the promise of their earlier demo, MALIGNANT ALTAR deliver a debut that’s as entertaining as it is disgusting, and with their brand of death metal, what more could you want? 

Rating: 8/10

Realms Of Exquisite Morbidity is set for release on December 10th via Dark Descent Records.

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