{"id":198223,"date":"2025-11-24T21:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/198223\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T21:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:04:08","slug":"perdition-temple-malign-apotheosis-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/198223\/","title":{"rendered":"Perdition Temple – Malign Apotheosis Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Since coming to prominence as the guitarist and primary songwriter of Angelcorpse<\/strong> in the 1990s, Gene Palubicki has been tearing a burning warpath through the extreme metal underground, scorching eardrums with projects like his (sadly defunct) death-thrash band Blasphemic Cruelty<\/strong> and his current collaboration with Morbid Angel<\/strong>\u2019s Steve Tucker and Origin<\/strong>\u2019s John Longstreth in the death metal supergroup Malefic Throne<\/strong>. My favorite of Gene\u2019s post-Angelcorpse<\/strong> projects, however, is Perdition Temple<\/strong>, probably because it sounds the most like Angelcorpse<\/strong>. In fact, as noted by the great Al Kikuras<\/strong> years ago<\/a> in his review of the band\u2019s 2015 sophomore album The Tempter\u2019s Victorious, the band\u2019s 2010 debut Edict of the Antichrist Elect was originally intended to be the fifth Angelcorpse<\/strong> album. Ever since Mr. Kikuras<\/strong>\u2019s evocative prose turned me on to Perdition Temple<\/strong>, I\u2019ve slowly become a salivating fanboy for them, going from trying to make sense of what the fuck I was hearing to scaring soccer moms in my neighborhood by walking around in a hoodie adorned with the album art of The Tempter\u2019s Victorious (with inverted crosses on the sleeves for good measure).<\/p>\n

After Tempter\u2018s, Gene stripped the band down to a power trio consisting of himself on vocals and guitar, Alex Blume (Ares Kingdom, <\/strong>ex-Blasphemic Cruelty<\/strong>) on bass, and Ron Parmer (Malevolent Creation<\/strong>, Brutality<\/strong>) behind the kit. This lineup appeared on 2020\u2019s Sacraments of Descension<\/a> (which was an enjoyable album that I probably underrated at the time) and 2022\u2019s Merciless Upheaval (which was really more of a glorified EP, given that half of its eight songs were covers). Now, this same crew is back with 2025\u2019s Malign Apotheosis, another firestorm of an album with just enough of a different approach to still feel fresh.<\/p>\n

Of course, Perdition Temple<\/strong> are the sort of underground band that are never going to stray too far from their signature formula. And indeed, this album\u2019s scalding blackened death metal approach is largely similar to what Perdition Temple<\/strong> have always done. The opening track, \u201cResurrect Damnation,\u201d shows Gene\u2019s trademark six-string attack leading the charge as well as we\u2019ve ever heard it, with the song crammed full of supercharged Morbid Angel <\/strong>riffs, rapidly churning tremolos, lightning-speed solos, a vaguely thrashy midsection, and a quick devilish motif that just barely holds everything together.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cQuick\u201d actually turns out to be apt description for these eight tracks as a whole. While Perdition Temple <\/strong>have always been fast, prior albums often incorporated notable slower moments to add some memorability and variety to the mayhem. Here, only \u201cKingdoms of the Bloodstained\u201d really slows down for any decent amount of time, with its abrasive mid-tempo bridge sounding like Immolation<\/strong> reforged in the fires of blackened death metal. Most of these tracks instead take the approach of the follow-up song, \u201cPurging Conflagration,\u201d which maniacally barrels forward on violent, pounding chugs and squawking notes without ever stopping for air. The end result is perhaps the most relentless and vicious album the band have yet released.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say there\u2019s nothing memorable or noteworthy here. The title track, for example, strikes especially hard by incorporating its addictive, staccato main riff between bouts of sludgy Morbid Angel<\/strong>isms. Likewise, the closing track, \u201cFell Sorcery,\u201d shows that Gene\u2019s reunion with John Longstreth in Malefic Throne <\/strong>may have caused some Origin<\/strong> influence to bleed over into here, as the song climaxes with an explosive laser beam riff that could have easily been pulled from a tech death album. Through it all, Gene\u2019s raspy vocals sound more biting and scornful than ever, while Ron Parmer proves once again to be the perfect fit for this project. The man wisely refrains from using constant blast beats and instead beats the hell out of his kit in a way that has surprising finesse, matching the momentum and frequently morphing nature of Gene\u2019s riffing. Perhaps this album\u2019s most notable trait, however, is the production, which is more raw than the band\u2019s prior work and recalls the unpolished sound of Behemoth<\/strong>\u2018s The Apostasy. While this makes the sooty guitars feel a tad subdued, the drums more than make up for this by punching through everything with satisfying clarity.<\/p>\n

A lot of bands tire out with age, but Perdition Temple<\/strong> apparently just gets dirtier and more relentless. Malign Apotheosis may not dethrone the band\u2019s first two albums, but it\u2019s a surefire win for fans of the band, and another reminder of how great blackened death metal can be when it\u2019s written by one of the wildest riff-writers in the business.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: 3.5\/5.0
DR:<\/strong> 7 | Format Reviewed:<\/strong> 320 kbps mp3
Label:<\/strong> Hells Headbangers Records<\/a>
Websites:<\/strong> perditiontemple.bandcamp.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/perditiontemple<\/a>
Releases Worldwide:<\/strong> November 28th, 2025<\/p>\n

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