Malthusian

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

The Portal comparison was too broad a stroke and too widely used to have any impact.

This absolutely.

Just from my own personal experience of that period, a significant difference for me between Malthusian and Vircolac was that the formation of the former wasn't in any way unpredictable yet I certainly couldn't have predicted the metal they ended up making, whereas the original formation of the latter (again, maybe just to me) was a genuinely unpredictable case of "Hang on, who's in this band together!?" but then when their first release came along, the music made sense in terms of those members. Relatively predictable line-up produces unpredictable sounds versus unpredictable line-up produces sounds you might predict if ever you could have predicted the line-up 

Anyway, since I don't have the demo on vinyl, it's actually the Malthusian release I listen to the least, so I'm going to revisit it this week in light of the discussion here.

[Circlepit]

Portal are one of those bands that just go completely over me head. It's like everything all at once and plenty of it.
I imagine they won't get a call for an MTV unplugged anytime soon.
It's claustrophobic and all those type boxes are ticked but it's non memorable at all.
Malthusian differ green that regard.

[Squigs]

The Portal comparison was too broad a stroke and too widely used to have any impact.

This absolutely.

Just from my own personal experience of that period, a significant difference for me between Malthusian and Vircolac was that the formation of the former wasn't in any way unpredictable yet I certainly couldn't have predicted the metal they ended up making, whereas the original formation of the latter (again, maybe just to me) was a genuinely unpredictable case of "Hang on, who's in this band together!?" but then when their first release came along, the music made sense in terms of those members. Relatively predictable line-up produces unpredictable sounds versus unpredictable line-up produces sounds you might predict if ever you could have predicted the line-up 

Anyway, since I don't have the demo on vinyl, it's actually the Malthusian release I listen to the least, so I'm going to revisit it this week in light of the discussion here.

The version of the demo I have on vinyl looks pure delicious, like a Cadburys Marble

[Pentagrimes]

whereas the original formation of the latter (again, maybe just to me) was a genuinely unpredictable case of "Hang on, who's in this band together!?" but then when their first release came along,

Care to elaborate?Just curious. You're welcome to just message me your reply rather than hijack this thread.

If I may - both us and Malthusian were very clear on the outset, I remember discussing this at length with Andy - that we wanted to write decent songs that would last the test of time.

Chipping in to the whole "10s death metal has aged poorly even though we were all very excited at the time" buzz, couldn't agree more - Antediluvian stand out for the sheer oddness, and Irkallian Oracle are the one for me who maried the genuine darkness to actual riffs. While the excitement of the newness was palpable at the time, the era of no riff/no face death metal was a fairly fallow period musically. I kind of see it as importance in terms of trying to strength an aesthetic to seperate Death metal at the time  from both black metal's corpsepainted cheese and the broDudery that has subsequently taken hold via the current crop of Frozen Soul/Maggot Stomp/UKDM moron metal. Sort of like a period of growt in terms of the aesthetics and imagery and certainly the occasional overly pretentious "philosophical" interview.

But yeah, plenty very visceral and memorable live experiences, very little memorable music. I'd go see portal again, but I'll be fucked if I could tell you last time I felt the urge to listen to them or could name a favourite song. Everyone got compared to them seemingly regardless of what they sounded like if they had a more serious approach to what they were doing, or even a hint  of dissonance. Definitely an unfair comparison for Malthusian I'd say.

[Circlepit]

The above post sums up a lot of what's going on at the moment.
The ability to craft and put out a song that has some level of meaning, that will stand the test of time and be of real worth seems to be less of a thing in the main stream DM/BM that comes out.
Churn it out and the pit will be great is the way to go it seems. ( my user name is a constant embarrassment )
Actually I don't know what I'm trying to say.
Push up DM shouldn't be accepted.
I suppose it's all down to the listener and what they want from music.

[Pentagrimes]

Pretty much. Death metal is plenty of fun behind the scenes if you're in a band, but outwardly it shouldn't be. I don't mean you have to dress like Sarcofago and Blashpemy like - look at Immolation or early At The Gates for example,none of theatrics, just a bunch of normal looking dudes.. but you got the buzz they took what they were doing seriously rather than looking to provide a soundtrack to a moshpit. There was nothing tongue in cheek about them.

Kinda glad the lads ditched the warpaint after the first gig, though the visuals were very cool.

[open face surgery]

On board with all the points Jamie made there.

[Pentagrimes]

And I'd definitely rather listen to Van Halen too.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

whereas the original formation of the latter (again, maybe just to me) was a genuinely unpredictable case of "Hang on, who's in this band together!?" but then when their first release came along,

Care to elaborate?Just curious. You're welcome to just message me your reply rather than hijack this thread.

Nothing deep: if I'm remembering everything correctly, for you personally it was a return to playing metal after a long period of being a vocal skeptic about the metal scene in general. Yet you were joining up with two of the Irish scene's most recognizably dyed-in-the-wool metallers, plus someone from well outside what were typical metal circles in Ireland. At the time, from the outside looking in, it seemed an unexpected, almost improbable blend of musical temperaments with respect to metal, that's all.

[The Butcher]

Vircolac, Coscradh & ZOM etc are decent bands in their own right, but it seemed to me they kind of followed MALTHUSIANS lead. Not that they copied them at all stylewise, each of these bands sound different, but just they all seemed to be part of the same scene

Probably because all those bands had the same type of intent/purpose when it came to songwriting/gigging. Codex Perfida and MMXIII in particular are excellent examples of combining memorable DM riffs within an intense BM type atmosphere. Something the mini thrash revival of the 00s was largely missing (in terms of combing intent with memorable riffs)

[Eoin McLove]

I'm out of things now and in exile on a small desert island on the opposite side of the world but it looks to me like there are enough new bands emerging right now in Ireland to feel proud and excited about the future of the scene I'm so fond of. Particularly excited to see what Callous Master come up with and Hasturian Vigil sound good. Verminous Serpent's album is very convincing. Hopefully one or two other things are on the boil. I'm looking forward to the new Malthusian album. The song titles and ideas Matt has shared with me are feeding my imagination. The new Vircolac is savage so I'm excited to see that come out too. I've yet to pick up the new Coscradh and Sacrilegia records so I'll hit Darragh up with a big order soon. Things look healthy and the new Malthusian piece I've heard was really fresh and exciting so more power to the bucks.

Also great to see the forum so busy lately. Feels a bit like old times

Edit.  The Grief, Corr Mhóna, El Morta...

[Pentagrimes]

Missed Danny's comment about "following Malthusian's lead" earlier, but luckily for you all the lengthy,furious response I'd typed out didn't save 

[ochoill]

Also great to see the forum so busy lately. Feels a bit like old times

Not to derail the thread but this, yeah, it's great.  Site is in good shape and it took those other two dense threads to make me consider how grand the place is (since that is an absolute anomaly here I mean).  Not like i've been here daily since it started or anything

[Mags]

I am loving this injection of Malthusian appreciation; it has me listening back to it all.

Things look healthy and the new Malthusian piece I've heard was really fresh and exciting so more power to the bucks.

This has me very hyped.

No one asked but just to add to the favourite release conversation I have to say my personal favourite has always been Below the Hengiform. It has the "straight-for-the-jugular" DM aggression that the demo had but it sounds altogether more murky and sinister and is much denser composition-wise. The closing section of Slouching Equinox is pure stomach churning rot - love it. Not to mention BtH has probably my favourite Johnny King performance across all his projects - really moreish, effective drumming. Also, I think it is the best release in terms of marriage of music and cover art.

[open face surgery]

I am loving this injection of Malthusian appreciation; it has me listening back to it all.

Things look healthy and the new Malthusian piece I've heard was really fresh and exciting so more power to the bucks.

This has me very hyped.

That's actually a completely separate thing. It'll be released later in the year, I think.