Malefic’s Impermanence (out February 13) carries the weight of time. Since 2018, the band has navigated the friction of personal and professional upheaval, resulting in a record that feels weathered by experience rather than smoothed by polish. The agitation is audible and shows that Impermanence isn’t just a collection of songs, but a document of survival. Refusing to stay within the boundaries of any one genre, it collides sound in ways that mirror the instability of its core themes of politics, addiction, and the wreckage of human choice.
Opening with a searing indictment of a profit-driven economic order, “Blood of the Throne” isn’t fast for speed’s sake. It’s built for confrontation, whether on a global scale or within one’s own uneasy reflections about oppressive systems. That fury bleeds into the lyrical horror of “In Darkest Dreams,” where the band slips into a shadowy fantasy realm to explore a darker persona.
“Of Gods and Man” confronts the existential crisis of gluttonous consumerism, its fighting guitars and heavy bass echoing the anxiety of modern life. Tracks like “Idiocracy” channel frustration with social ignorance through towering chord work, while “Deserter” tackles neglect and suicidal ideation with brutal and unrelenting riffs. An acoustic intro gives way to emotional devastation in “Disembodiment” by tracing the wreckage of gaslighting, and “Obsidian Earth” pounds forward with an unwavering beat as it contemplates humanity’s extinction. Addiction surfaces in the intertwined melodies and desperate cries of “Echoes of Silence,” and the closer, “It Haunts,” lives up to its title. Maintaining a sense of lyrical mystery throughout, it and the album leaves behind the feeling of a past that refuses to stay buried.
In the end, Impermanence is about consequences. The ones you fight for, the ones you abandon, and the ones that follow you regardless. It is the sound of choices made in real time, and the echoes that remain long after.
