A highly enigmatic, underground Avantgarde and Dissonant Black Metal collective attacks with its first emission, creating a soundtrack of utter horror and consequence.
Under the Madonna
Moved by the Serpent
Held by the Axis
A highly enigmatic, underground Avantgarde/Dissonant Black Metal project, Malignant Spirit is a collective created by musicians within the ranks of Venomous Echoes, Sleep Paralysis and Veilburner, characterized by a strong theatrical imprint developed on multiple artistic levels. Together, they are the “Wardens of the Triarchy,” and because the band intentionally maintains deep anonymity, their exact geographic origin remains undisclosed to the public. The Obituist is the curator, he who speaks and the recorder of that which transpires; he does not sing, but documents the end of things as they occur. Ossiculum is the architect who builds from what is left behind. He is Coagula: From what survives, it builds something that cannot forget what it once was. Last but not least, Oxydyz’r is he who transforms through the processes of horror and dissolution. He is Solve: Where form persists, it intervenes; where structure resists, it erodes. A Serpent To Devour, A Servant To Abhor is the collective’s first emission, a monumental work in which Malignant Spirit operate within Extreme Metal without leaning into any genre labels, trying to create a soundtrack of utter horror and consequence perfect for fans of the scathing music blasted by Portal, Thantifaxath, Choir, and Mayhem.
Such a distinguished album couldn’t have started in a more phantasmagorical way than with the cryptic intro Nulla Via, O’ Nisi Vulnus, flowing into the demented, hypnotizing whirlwind of sounds named To Bruise The Heel Of Malkuth, where its visceral riffs and haunting background will consume our souls mercilessly. The Inheritance Of Her Ruin is another bestial creation by this uncanny entity, where their evil vociferations do not sound like they’re from this dimension; followed by This Is The Mystery Of The Blood Madonna, even more dissonant and demented than its predecessors, boosted by their infernal beats and fills. And O’ Exile, Spirit Me Away is extremely experimental and visceral form start to finish, as if the band decided to turn their music into a ritual of sounds.
In Wail! Wail! O’ Betrayal, Wail!, half of the song is way too weird, while the second part gets back to their hurricane of infernal riffs and vociferations in the name of extreme music; whereas A Serpent To Devour follows the same unique pattern as its predecessor, although it never flows into their trademark Black Metal madness and remains way too atmospheric almost until the end. In A Servant To Abhor we’re treated to an amazing job done by those eccentric creatures of the underworld on both the guitars and drums, crafting an enfolding and obscure ambience not recommended for the lighthearted; and lastly, your soul will be shredded to pieces to the sound of the 11-minute black mass titled …Is To Crown The Wound That Will Never Heal, where their evil gnarls and scathing guitars are complemented by wicked background keys for our total delectation, and all that chaotic beauty morphs into a dark piano outro that sounds climatic and punishing.
Wrapped in an evocative cover by Roberto Diaz, A Serpent to Devour, A Servant to Abhor, which can be purchased from BandCamp or from the Metal Odissey webstore in the EU and in the US, is an anxiety invoked hellscape built atop the Trees of Life and Death at a time when the infinite tried to become finite. It is in a place where movement was forced to stop, but pressure continued to remain. Even if every now and then the music coalesces around particularly catchy riffs, bizarre arrangements and unexpected rhythmic solutions, A Serpent To Devour, A Servant To Abhor is an alchemical nightmare that plunges the listener into the horror of a boundless, invincible chaos. Having said all that, do you have what it takes to face such an uncanny entity armed with its asphyxiating, devilish and dissonant debut offering?
Best moments of the album: To Bruise The Heel Of Malkuth…, This Is The Mystery Of The Blood Madonna and …Is To Crown The Wound That Will Never Heal.
Worst moments of the album: A Serpent To Devour.
Released in 2026 I, Voidhanger Records
Track listing
1. Nulla Via, O’ Nisi Vulnus 2:55
2. To Bruise The Heel Of Malkuth… 6:52
3. The Inheritance Of Her Ruin 5:27
4. This Is The Mystery Of The Blood Madonna 6:28
5. O’ Exile, Spirit Me Away 4:57
6. Wail! Wail! O’ Betrayal, Wail! 6:27
7. A Serpent To Devour 6:56
8. A Servant To Abhor 7:37
9. …Is To Crown The Wound That Will Never Heal 10:58
Band members
Oxydyz’r, he who destroys and alters
Ossiculum, he who rebuilds from the remains
The Obituist, he who records the result as truth
