The Malefice

Pentagram Chile (I never liked that name) is not a band I'm well versed in, I know part of their history, their influence and presence in the dawn of extreme metal both in the world and especially in Latin America, in fact I remember quite well how in 2013 in the spanish speaking metal site I frequented there was quite a lot of hype for this album when it was released, because somehow unlike other bands of similar geography, Pentagram never had the chance to jump into the big leagues because of their lack of an studio album despite already having a name worthy of respect in the underground scene. So for many, including myself, "The Malefice" is their introduction to Pentagram Chile, and that's the point of this review, no comparisons to their 80's work, just talk about this 2013 album in the context of the band.

Overall The Malefice is an interesting release because it somehow coexists being a modern, clean and digital production (with all the bad things that implies in the final sound) but still doesn't lose that underground and dirty energy. The attitude of the songs is totally reivendicative, they are wanting to show that "they are not too old for this shit". Anton Reisenegger sounds totally furious and his raspy vocal style serves as a commander of a style from another era but at no point does it sound dated. In fact, with the depth of the songwriting, it makes me think that all the songs on the album are either new or rewritten, they are more adventurous and complex than you would think for a band that started playing this style so early, the feeling is not that Pentagram Chile are trying to capture what they did 30 years ago, but to reflect the years of experience they have gained as musicians.

This evidence in the songwriting when it is most obvious occurs when the band slows down the tempo and the riffage shifts towards something more groove oriented like they do in the middle section of "The Apparition", without having read many reviews of this album, I'm sure the most purist of this band hate this influence, but the truth is that some of these moments are the ones I enjoyed the most out of the whole release. You can tell that Anton Reisenegger has experience with the genre from his playing with the band Criminal. But don't expect this style to be the norm, as I said before these are one-off moments and the overall sound is thrash metal with big hints of death metal influenced by classics like Possessed, Kreator and of course Slayer, to which they make a more than obvious tribute on Spontaneous Combustion with an intro clearly inspired by the beginning of Angel of Death.

Although I have praised the songwriting for being adventurous and daring, this is not something that is always good, the songs have occasional moments that make me get excited and bang my head like crazy, but except for "The Death of Satan" none of the other songs manage to grab me from beginning to end, and I think this is due to the fact that many of the compositions drag on too long and add more sections than the song can handle, the repetition of an unnecessary segment, staying too long with a riff that isn't that good, or the need to give the song a change of pace when it doesn't really need it are some of the most detectable mistakes in The Malefice. It won't ruin the experience but it will certainly make it worse. That, along with the terrible drum production, which at several points has "that" terrible sound on the cymbals that is just plain awful and frustrating, Pentagram Chile won't be the first or the last band to suffer from this, but it gets on my nerves every time it happens.

After all, The Malefice is the imperfect but deserved culmination of a pioneering band that didn't had it all that easy, you can get carried away by their old school charms and ignore their problems, or you can focus on them and have a bad experience, or maybe it's an album that leaves you completely indifferent. The Malefice can be very different things depending on who listens to it, and if you haven't yet, go and find out.

Pentagram (Chile) was one of the first extreme metal acts from Chile in the 80s, they split up in the late 80s then Anton Reisenegger formed the thrash band Fallout, and then he formed Criminal. It's very difficult to go back to the roots and make a "True Metal" album when you've been dedicated to a style of music that leans towards 90s metal, and this album is notorious.
In its beginnings, Pentagram (Chile) played something like Death/Thrash with some hints of black metal, which for its time wasn't bad, but it wasn't spectacular either. They return with "the Malefice" after nearly 26 years.

"The Malefice" is an attempt to make "Old School Metal" and shamefully fails in the act. All this is because all the members of the band were involved for a long time in projects that were not exactly real death metal or thrash bands, and this is noticeable.

The song that opens the album is "Death of Satan", which tries to emulate the sound of their first demo, with those Slayer-style guitars and blast beats that work at times, but after a couple of minutes, it loses intensity and ends with the same beginning riff. Nothing bad, but nothing special. Then follows "La Fiura", the same riff from his song "scapegoat" from his album as Criminal, "Dead Soul". It's quite mediocre and it sounds out of place, considering this album as a "comeback album" of a Death/Thrash metal band.

Listening to this "Malefice", I have realized that there are no really aggressive, dark, or brutal riffs (considering the theme of the album which is something macabre). Everything sounds like a collection of riffs and rhythms stuck together without any justification. The production isn't bad, it doesn't sound completely clean or plastic either, but it doesn't have "atmosphere" and for an album of these characteristics, it's just like a Criminal album with more tremolos and a couple of extra solos on each song. For example, in "Horror Vacui", another song that reminds the criminal from "Dead Soul", the main riff is not catchy at all, it's made without passion, it sounds like the tremolos that Cannibal Corpse would use to improvise or warm up their fingers. The breakdowns of each track sound like Pantera, and that's disappointing.

"Spontaneous Combustion" is a pathetic and embarrassing nod to Slayer's "Angel of Death", a joke overused by amateur bands that lost his grace a long time ago. The worst thing is that Tom Araya-style shriek... simply cringy. After 2 minutes of aggression, we move on to the bridge, which sounds like pure 90s groove metal. Then we have "Grand Design" and "Sacrophobia" that sound like something out of any Criminal album again. Thrash Metal with a lot of groove influences. In "Sacrophobia" there is a voice trying to sound worn out but obviously, it sounds fake. Really 2 boring songs that don't stand out at all.

Pentagram (Chile) reminds me a lot of what happened with Machine Head in the mid-00s when they wanted to "go back to the roots". Machine Head released a few shitty albums, disguised as Thrashers again, but by all accounts, they were pure garbage. This album by Pentagram Chile is the same, pure shit disguised as underground metal. Songs like "Arachnoids" would be considered garbage for any Death/Thrash fan.

The album culminates with "Prophetic Tremors", which is another piece recycled from their "Dead Soul" album and which sounds like a song called "S.S.S", hell! At least they would have been more sincere and would have released this album under the name of Criminal, and thus I would have avoided listening to this mess. It's a shame that this band is classified as Death/Thrash Metal because they're not a Death/Thrash Metal band anymore.

In conclusion, on this album, you will not find anything "True Metal". It is simply Mr. Anton Reisenegger trying to profit from the name of his previous band and living from a past that was never so great. Many unwary people will buy this album thinking it is about the triumphant return of Pentagram (Chile) to its most metal roots, or simply a Black Metal band, but the truth is that it is a fiasco. The album is pretty boring, so don't be fooled by the cover art.

"The Malefice" is like the return of an evil Christ in this age of reunions and new releases from formerly obscure metal clans. Often regarded as one of the most important metal bands to have ever hailed from Chile and South America in their underground circuits, Pentagram (known now as 'Pentagram Chile') lived and died in the arms of old-school thrash/death metal à la Possessed with only a handful of minor releases left to immortalize its wickedness. Whatever the reason, be it cult status or an undying lust for death metal, Pentagram Chile reformed once more in 2012, and a year later released its first full-length record nearly three decades after the band's ugly, demonic head emerged from the dragon's womb. Needless to say, "The Malefice" is pretty damn fresh for being a molten hunk of malice that had been simmering in Hell for the past few decades, the coat of demon entrails notwithstanding.

One must keep in mind that although the music throughout "The Malefice" is a primordial take on the thrash/death metal blueprint, it is far from a revivalist replication: Pentagram Chile was on that unhallowed ground even before pioneering acts like Cannibal Corpse or Deicide emerged from nothingness, and the band's importance is colossal. Regardless, "The Malefice" is not a rerecording of old demo tracks, but nine anthems of hellish power bearing the integrity and honesty of Pentagram Chile's former glories; they sound like an exact continuation of the group's first era, loyal to the letter. This is intense, tumultuous death metal which long ago plowed through the cusp of thrash: the byproduct is a dark, forthright effort layered in straightforward riffs, hostile percussion patterns, and acidic vocals, all of which encapsulate a prime progeny of metal's elder elites.

In a broader approach, Pentagram Chile's style has a fundamental grasp on the indigenous concept of the thrash/death metal method, one that doesn't pretend to appear authentic, but actually is authentic. The pedigree of guitar work often walks a thin line between thrashy sections and prototypical death metal riffs, and slow, mid-paced crunches that weave into the carnage excellently. There are some nice chaotic parts as well, in particular a section of "Prophetic Tremors" that boasts a riff that sounds totally unorganized and frenzied against a ceiling of blast beats. Beyond that, "The Malefice" is ravenous and bloodthirsty death metal that sounds as if it had been held in a crypt for twenty-eight years before finally being released into the world once more.

The production, too, aids the content and quality of “The Malefice“ considerably, as it steers clear of the usual modern metal sound that would’ve ruined something like this, and instead opts for a raw, meaty atmosphere that gives "The Malefice" the auditory justice it deserves. Schimer and Tomas Lindberg show up here in brief cameos on "Spontaneous Combustion" and "Sacrophobia," respectively, though their appearances are very minor to the overall substance of "The Malefice" but enjoyable nonetheless. In essence, the gentlemen of Pentagram Chile have returned to their grisly, decayed kingdom after years of traveling through the wastes, and "The Malefice" is everything that it should be. Hell, it's like they never left in the first place.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com