Malthusian - The Summoning Bell - review
Malthusian - The Summoning Bell - review
Tracklist
01. Isolation02. Red, Waiting
03. Between Dens And Ruins
04. The Summoning Bell
05. The Onset Of The Death Of Man
06. Eroded Into Superstition
07. Amongst The Swarms Of Vermin
08. In Chaos, Exult
A review by
AndyMetalFreak August 18, 2025
The blackened death metal band formed in Dublin, Ireland in 2012, shortly afterwards releasing the promising demo MMXIII. Their debut EP Below The Hengiform subsequently arrived in 2015 to a mixed reception, but 2018's debut full-length record Across Deaths announced Malthusian as one of the most extreme metal bands to ever emerge from Ireland. However, the band then retreated into the dark shadowy depths, where they remained for a further 7 years before eventually unleashing The Summoning Bell.
Through 8 tracks of brutal, unforgiving blackened death and, to a lesser extent, doom metal, The Summoning Bell is more structurally diverse and lengthier than their previous album, with a total runtime of 54 minutes. This time Malthusian take listeners on an atmospheric journey through a dark hellish abyss filled with an overwhelming sense of dread, hopelessness, and desperation. This also ties in with the stunning apocalyptic cover art, which for me resembles the once green rolling hills of the majestic emerald isle from whence they came being scorched over by the fires of hell itself.
The densely atmospheric intro "Isolation" sets the album's crushing tone in motion and signals the incoming apocalyptic terror that lies ahead. "Red, Waiting" then follows that up with razor-sharp, blackened-tinged dissonant riffing intertwined with wailing leads, a relentless rhythm section driven by Earth-shattering bass and furious blast-beats that pummel away with devastating force, and evil beastly gutturals that echo their way through the distorted and densely layered instrumentation. The tempo also changes several times throughout the song from more moderate speeds to rapid surges, before breaking down in a flash into slow, crushing death doom passages.
The album does manage to sustain this brutality and atmosphere from here on, and I believe it's a step in the right direction, as it provides some newer interesting elements and a wider degree of versatility, especially when it comes to the many drastic tempo changes. The slower doomier sections offer welcoming respite from the predominantly relentless and ferociously dissonant approach. It's structurally chaotic for the most part, but it does unfortunately fall into the trap of meandering from time to time, particularly on lengthier songs such as "Amongst The Swarms Of Vermin", which at 15 minutes just seems like overkill.
Malthusian have arguably been a somewhat hit-and-miss band from the beginning. Perhaps this is due to their more inaccessible style that focuses heavily on atmosphere and dissonance rather than providing an ear for melody and memorable grooves; this won't exactly appeal to the easy listening masses. Nevertheless, their style is not entirely alien, with death, black, and doom metal successfully integrated by a number of bands in the past.
In conclusion, Malthusian have developed their style further and made one or two positive changes, making this a step in the right direction, and one step closer to reaching their true potential. They've yet to reach the point I believe they're capable of, and they're still a long way from being considered a true force in extreme metal. The Summoning Bell isn't going to win over every metalhead, but it's still solid blackened death metal that I'm sure will crush the souls of many listeners while the band hopefully work towards reaching their full potential.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 7 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 7 |
Written on 18.08.2025 by
Written on 18.08.2025 by
An honest review that you don't necessarily have to agree with. Comments
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Although neither this nor their previous album have particularly stellar ratings/reviews here, I'm curious to give this a listen since they wrote a pretty heavy song for the Irish folk horror film All You Need Is Death from last year (the film's composer, Ian Lynch, was in Sodb with Malthusian's drummer)
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