Band:	Nader Sadek
Album:	The Malefic: Chapter III
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	November 03, 2014
A review by:	ScreamingSteelUS

01. Deformation By Incision
02. Carrion Whispers
03. Entropy Eternal
04. Descent

This mysterious Nader Sadek, artistic director of his eponymous musical enterprise, has assembled a veritable A-Team of metal musicians to breathe life into (or, perhaps more appropriately, beat life out of) his dark tales. I suppose a team of Expendables might be a more seasonable reference, but the members are all under 65, and there are only four of them aside from the boss man. With Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen (late of Mayhem) and Cryptopsy's Flo Mounier behind guitars and drums, as well as previous guests Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation and Marcin Rygiel of Decapitated returning to the scene of the crime as full-fledged members, Sadek sure knows how to pick his friends.

Joining this absurdly talented band of jolly japers are the equally talented guests Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse), Andreas Kisser (Sepultura), Oliver Pinard (Vengeful, Neuraxis, Cryptopsy), and Carmen Susana Simões (Ava Inferi). It's not quite my dream death metal lineup (which, now that I think of it, was actually just Death c. 1993), but you would be hard-pressed to find a more stunning cohort of musicians working together these days.

Upon first listen, I was actually pretty underwhelmed. With that list of names, you are more-or-less entitled to expect the greatest death metal album of all time from this venture. The Malefic: Chapter III is not quite that, because it's an EP, and also because it is shockingly standard. After a few listens, however (which is quite simple to pull off, as this is only 20 minutes long), the EP grew on me exponentially. As wormdrink414 expressed in his review of their debut, Nader Sadek plays death metal that is both by-the-books and exceptional. Not much here will surprise you (and that fact might itself be the most surprising thing about it), but behind the mask of straightforward pedestrian activity is some truly well-constructed and well-performed death metal. If anyone could play death metal the old-fashioned way and still make it sound brutal and fresh like you've never heard before, it's these guys.

Everything changes with the final track. "Descent" is likely to be one of the best and most memorable death metal tracks you've heard all year. A deathly cold open tells us that perhaps Blasphemer misses Mayhem; as the rest of the band moves in for a mournful, plodding midsection, Travis Ryan shows off why he is one of the most talented and versatile vocalists in the extreme metal scene. He growls deeply and broodingly, whispers eerily, and finally unleashes his uniquely unsettling alien screeches. Fading out all too soon with Mounier's rolling drums underfoot, Simões's keenly underplayed and mournful calls, and a ripping solo, this song will leave you drenched in cold sweat and waiting to pounce on the replay button.

Overall, while I do wish that Nader Sadek could be a bit more innovative and exploit the awe-inspiring talent of its members more, their current operation yields great success. I look forward to what aural mayhem and which illustrious guests their next full-length will bring.