Malignant Wizard vs. Ancient Sanctuary

I’ve often wondered how it is that a bunch of pissed off South Americans could write blistering black metal with the fury of a raging blizzard, given that most of those countries don’t see much snow outside of the mountainous areas. But evidently there are a couple of bands in El Salvador, an area known for its tropical climate, who seem hell bent on reliving the glory days of the Northern European bands of the early 90s. The results here are fairly standard by most emulators of the classics in the symphonic and melodic camps particularly that of Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Enslaved and Immortal, though each of these bands take it to a fairly different place.

Malignant Wizard elects to go the Spanish lyrical route, and generally tends to draw upon the more ambient and industrial influences upon the genre. The drums sound fairly mechanical, most likely due to the mixing job, and the keyboards sound somewhat low tech. and video game-like. They overindulge a little on the melodic tremolo riffing, which tends to be a symptom of latent Gothenburg influences, and the blasting tends to dominate most of the songs in a similar fashion to what is heard on “Battles In The North”. But when all of it is taken together, Emperor seems to be the principle influence at work here, drawing partially from “In The Nightside Eclipse”, but also bearing some similarity to “Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk” in the overtly catchy melodic material.

Ancient Sanctuary offers up a less uniform presentation, probably due to the songs contained on here coming from a couple of differing sessions. But generally, the feel of the music is a bit more thrash-like and tends towards a stronger presence of early Immortal mixed in with early Dimmu Borgir. The keyboards are also of a higher production quality, taking a few cues from the atmospheric work heard on “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss”, and offering up a vocal approach that is a bit more intelligible and in line with the conventions of the better known Norwegian acts.

This is among the more standard offerings within the crowded world of independent black metal acts. It might be worth hearing if you crave atmosphere and can’t get enough of the gothic tinged, consonant members of the scene, though these two bands maintain a relatively raw and fuzzy musical demeanor that keeps them out of the pristine territory of some latecomers. But if you are currently without the Burzum discography and the mid-period Emperor albums, I’d go there first before blowing money trying to procure a copy of this.