Xasthur

Xasthur has been a polarizing figure in USBM for some time now. It seems that most people either love or hate his work. For the most part, I fall into the latter category. While I enjoy(ed) some of his early recordings, it seemed that everything past "The Funeral of Being" was a simple rehash of previous material and that perhaps the well of fresh ideas had run dry. So 3 years, 3 full-lengths, and a slew of splits later, Malefic presents this eponymous EP.

Does it measure up to the early material? Well, somewhat...considering that nearly half of the time on the EP is taken up by a new recording of an old song from "A Darkened Winter" (Doomed By Howling Winds), which is by far the best of the material presented here. It's all standard Xasthur fare though. The gloomy, multi-layered atmosphere is there. The crappy drum machine is still there. The vocals are still buried beneath the rest of the mix and still drowned in effects.

I was really put off by the fact that Bubonic Plague ends abruptly, as if Malefic forgot to put a new cassette into his 8-track and just said "Fuck it." and sent it to Moribund anyway. There are no lyrics and the artwork is both boring and completely irrelevant to the material, unless I'm missing something. Aside from that there's not anything that I can really complain about. It's not my cup of tea, but I can see how some people could get into this. Even so, I wouldn't call this a mandatory purchase unless you're a completist.

Put simply, if you like the rest of what Malefic has done, you'll probably like this. If you don't, steer clear. For Xasthur fans only.