Being offered as a free cd insert in November/December through Decibel, Terrorizer, and Legacy Magazine (alongside a digital release in December), don’t sleep on the opportunity to experience some excellent death metal for the price of nothing (well, you’ll have to pay for the magazine). This four song EP rips!
If you are unfamiliar with Nader Sadek, it’s a “supergroup” comprised of Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy), Rune Eriksen (Aura Noir), Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation) and of course Nader Sadek himself. Joining the crew this time is Bobby Koelble (Death) and Martin Rygiel (ex-Decapitated), along with some guest appearances by Andreas Kisser, Alex Webster, Olivier Pinard, and Carmen Simoes. Needless to say, this is a monstrously stacked line-up, but along with the stacked line-up comes some stacked expectations, in which Nader Sadek has no issues matching. Compared with the previous releases, The Malefic does come across as a bit more brutal (certainly in regards to Ryan’s vocal presence). But that’s not to say that there’s no room for the atmosphere that radiated from past efforts. The closing “Descent” borders on doom with its patience, with Simoes provides some haunting beauty to Ryan’s beast and oozes sinister vibes. The other three tracks bring a more intense death metal flavor, particularly “Deformation by Incision,” but the songs work in some blackened moments as well, alongside some particularly dark moments (see the end of “Carrion Whispers”) and shredding solos (“Entropy Eternal”).
Kudos to Nader Sadek for releasing this one as a free offering for fans. With the supergroup status in tow, this is one case that goes leaps and bounds beyond the expectations. Do not pass this one up if you are a fan of extreme metal!