Reviews - MALAPETAKA - Anthem of Annihilation [2015] no comments

MALAPETAKA - Anthem of Annihilation (2015)

Happy new year! It's 2015. Well it's 4 months too late I guess, but damn it, it's better late than never. The last update was way back in September, 2014. Well, who cares. Nobody reads this blog anyway. Well, except me from time to time. Having said that, it feels good to write something in here. Even if it's once every full moon.

So what's up? Malapetaka is up. This awesome death thrash band from Kuala Lumpur is at it again with a brand new 4 song EP titled Anthem of Annihilation. I have always been a fan of this band since their first demo, which was reviewed somewhere in this blog. Even though I have not been too kind with my review of their debut release, I have always followed their progress via their facebook page. 

2014 saw the band hitting the stages with vengeance, playing local shows here and there and then went abroad to play in Nepal and India, damaging the ears of Indian and Nepalese metalheads with much gusto and wrath. At the end of 2014, some pictures were posted on their facebook page signalling a new record was in progress.

Anthem of Annihilation is a suiting title for this 4 song self released EP. The first song is called Ascendancy of Terror, clocking in at 6 minutes and 52 seconds. The track opened with the sounds from a battlefield, setting the sinister mood for the 6 minutes terror . The lead guitar intro was a few milliseconds off of the tempo though. There was an old megadeth vibe within the riff of the first verse. the solos were very very good here and then mid way through the song their nusantara influence kicked in in high gear.

The second song is Kejahilan Minda. A rerecorded track from their first demo. The nusantara/javanese influence in this one is extremely heavy. It's another brutal track. A slight setback for me regarding this song was the phrasing and timing of the vocals, which sometimes sounded a little bit off here and there. This usually happens when you got too long a lyric, and tried to fit all of the words in the verse. But that minor setback, does not in anyway take away the sheer brutality of the song. With a "growl along" chorus, I can see that this song be THE track for Malapetaka.

The third song was the song that was teased before the band put out the record officially. I was so impressed with Anthem of Annihilation, the song. The old Floridian death metal vibe is thick in this one. It had even made me think whether the band had changed it's course from their nusantara influenced death thrash to total death metal. Wait for the breakdown at 1:57. Heavy and brutal. The double lead in this one was just out of this world. There were also a bit of Gothenberg riffs being thrown in there as well. Excellent headbangable track through and through.

The fourth song is called Infernal Deconstruction and it started with an atmospheric serunai and rebab (malay traditional trumpet and skindrum respectively) sound. This song clocked in at 5 minutes and 45 second. Complete annihilation of eardrums. The center piece of this track is definitely its lyrics. Could have passed for any Cannibal Corpses lyrics anytime.

My favorite track would definitely be the third track, Anthem of Annihilation. It was the shortest track on the EP but it got everything that I loved about Malapetaka. Crazy ass solos, heavy midtempo breakdowns, dual harmonic riffages and you still get to experience that Malapetaka original nusantara sound. The lyrical theme for the song suited the track extremely well.

When I first got to listen to the promo track, the first thing that caught my little ears was the quality of the sound. The sound in this EP is a huge huge step forward compared to the dry sound of the debut. The guitars were heavy and perfectly mixed. The bass were audible enough for me to enjoy and the vocals were perfectly mixed in between. And then there was the drums. Oh my, where should I start with the drums? I loved the drum mix.

In my previous review, I commented that the drum playing were a bit off and unimaginative but knowing the fact that Naji (the drummer) joined the band several months before they went into the studio to record the demo,  I toned down my comment and suggested that naji should be given more time to gel with the band and brush up his strokes. Guess what, in this EP, Naji owned every piece of the songs. Showing off his tremendous skills tearing apart the drum set and blasting double bass like nobodys business. More power to you Naji. Older metal guys, get your daughters to marry this guy, quick!

Awesome, awesome release. Recommended.

Get a copy of Malapetaka - Anthem of Annihilation by communicating directly with the band via their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/malapetaka.kl. Labels, get in touch with the boys, organizers, get your stages open for them. Thats an order.

*Nusantara - the Malayan archipelago. Nusantara sound refers to sounds influenced by the myriad traditional Malayan-Javanese cultural music mainly coming from Malaysia and Indonesia.