Malnàtt
Principia Discordia

Their name means dirty, but nothing other than the name suggests anything dirty. The album cover is sleek and interesting and the music is excellently produced with clean and aggressive sound. But let us not get ahead of ourselves now, they are from Bologna in Italy and they are releasing their fifth album one that is said to be moving a bit away from their folkish black metal into something more extreme and unpredictable or something like that. “They are the first and only extreme metal band who have introduced an accordion in the line up” says the label conveniently forgetting bands like Finntroll or Ensiferum who appeared before Malnàtt was even formed which was in 1999. They also say “People were astonished by the extreme contrast between their humorous approach and obscure lyrics, focused on decadent poetry, death and nihilism” but with people they mean Italians which is not really all people, is it as most people do not know italian of Bolognese which is the dialect they are said to sing in.

So, with the humour lost in translation or something like that we can at least say that the production is quite brilliant and one of the best I have heard from a band subscribing to the melodic black metal genre. The songs are fairly typical of the genre though, sure there are some own touches but most of it is still ordinary which might indicate that the label is overselling the band when they are saying: “New album for one of the most innovative and experimental bands in the extreme metal scene! Black Metal meets humorous lyrics, decadent poetry and a totally unconventional approach” I do not think that they are innovative or totally unconventional and that makes me of course doubt the thing about the humorous lyrics as well. I think this band have a quality approach to the production which is amazing but the album is 51 minutes long and the songs are quite ordinary so it does not add up to brilliant as an end result, so what is the end result then?

I think that this album is good in the regard that it is not sickeningly bad, it is actually quite alright to listen to and the sound is one of the best I have heard from a black metal band. But the problem with this album is the songs, all of the are quite forgetful and the album itself just lumbers on in a rather dreary way. But sure, if you are a fan of the melodic black metal genre then you might think this is good but I think that most of you will find this quite boring and pointless which is what I deem it to be. I would call this an album to avoid unless of course you are a fan of the genre or italian lyrics that you cannot make out because of the growling diction of the album.

So the first album on review of Hallowed 2013 is one from 2012 and a rather dreary one as well. It is fairly alright and sounds really well but it still feels like it will appeal only to those really fanatical about melodic black metal of all kinds, none other will be that amazed by what Malnàtt has to offer. A fairly ordinary black metal album is what it is, very nicely packaged ordinary black metal.

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