Anti Islamist Proselytism

Malsaint is a new band which belongs to the genre of nsBM, comes from the French scene and “Anti Islamist Proselytism” is their first full length album. So, this album is going to be released during the August of 2014 only in vinyl format and it contains eight compositions of overall duration of a little less than forty minutes. Malsaint will not cause big surprises to the listener as are not differentiate themselves from the harsh Black Metal sound that we will come across in most of the nsBM releases. So here, the listener will come across harsh, traditional Black Metal, quite dark and in a lot of parts atmospheric, while the sound doesn’t lack of the Thrash – Punk references.

The compositions of the band consist of simple and straightforward, mainly of fast speed riffing, not particularly technical nor particularly original. They are quite dark, minimalistic tremolo riffs which put out a very intensive, black atmosphere, while the few beautiful Thrash and Punk elements give a different character to the compositions. That alternation between the violent, filled with hatred riffs and the dark, minimalistic and atmospheric ones, give a unique and different character to the compositions. The duration of the tracks ranges from three to six minutes, they are monotonous and in some parts they touch the borders of boredom. However the dark atmosphere and the little changes which make their appearance where you don’t expect it, save the compositions and they maintain the interest of the listener to a satisfying level.

The sound of the album is very good. The production is bass and quite clean, it is delivering a warm and very dark sound which fits and highlights the compositions. The band has done a very good job also for the mix as all the instruments and the vocals are balanced and it achieves to put out a very massive and solid sound. The guitars are very dark and heavy, delivering the atmosphere flawlessly. The absence of technic in the riffs doesn’t mean that that the guitars are not played with good technic. They deliver flawlessly and without mistakes the compositions. The bass is almost inaudible but its sound is full, so the absence of the bass does not bother the listener much. The drums have quite interesting lines, from fast to rhythmic and rarely to heavy atmospheric, with beautiful turnings, heavy and solid fills and violent, speedy outbursts. They are played with passion but also with accuracy and nice technic. The vocals are harsh, quite expressive, filled with hatred Black Metal vocals. The lyrics are written in English but they are not contained in the promo that I received.

To sum up, the first release of Malsaint shows a band that has ideas and can compose interesting tracks. Maybe their sound and style is not original or in some parts their compositions are flirting with becoming boring, but the band has achieved to save the situation by putting out its personality through its music. Surely, if it works and correct the mistakes that it has done in this album, it will offer to us quite good releases. Regarding “Anti Islamist Proselytism”, it is a mediocre release that will offer forty interesting minutes to the fans of this sound. You won’t lose anything if you listen to it.