Malthusian

[Danny]

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 

Damn, chill the beans my dude. I believe I did say "it seemed to ME" and "for/to me" several times. I meant no disrespect to the other bands, my comment was arbitrary, and meant more like, to me it seemed that way just because I happen to like Malthusian's music more than the others is all, so for ME, they led the pack of Irish DM at the time.

I actually am really into Vircolac too, prob my 2nd fav Irish DM band. & I have a similar connection as I do with the Malthusian Demo, with Vircolac's Codex Perfida, I find preferable over your other releases since.

[CorkonianHunger]

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.

Yeah I was about to say it, agree with all those. BTH was the first I heard and for those points my favourite also. Slouching Equinox probably my favourite song.

[Eoin McLove]

I stuck on BTH this morning for the first time in I don't know how long after reading the above posts. It's so damn murky, holy shit. I think the vinyl version gives the guitars a bit more space to breath but I remember we thought it went a bit too murky in the end and we tried to rectify that a bit with the album. And ended up in total chaos  But I think that standing back and absorbing it from the outside, that murk is part of its ugly, obscure charm. Fucked if I remember how to play half the riffs anymore though and listening to it really isn't making the job any easier   

[CorkonianHunger]

Fucked if I remember how to play half the riffs anymore though and listening to it really isn't making the job any easier   

There is something great about that I'd imagine though. Total lightning in a bottle job. Some of the most intricately demented sections are on BTH for me, production aside. As someone said earlier, there's actually riffs/breathing (wrong word) space to make it work.

[Eoin McLove]

There are more slow and medium paced parts on that EP I think, with plenty of slow building sections which lead into the maelstrom.

[open face surgery]

I had a listen to it earlier. Can't remember the last time I had it on. A lot of mid paced stuff on it. Some of the production works well, some doesn't.

I'd struggle to remember all of Slouchiing but I can remember the hectic middle section and the end which was always a buzz. Would be about 6 years since it was last played live.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Had to turn to YT to listen to the demo. Top comment on vid compares it to a "blackened Acidbath" which is a pretty interesting one!

[Eoin McLove]

I only listened to Acid Bath once and briefly after seeing I think yourself and Karl going on about them. Didn't do anything for me then. Might be worth a revisit.

[open face surgery]

Ya, I got the loan of a cd once years ago but was never arsed with them so that's purely coincidental.

[Squigs]

Dunno if When The Kite String Pops is an album that hits better when you're in your more formative years but it's an all-time classic as far as I'm concerned.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Yah, I don't hear the comparison in Malthusian myself, but it's an interesting one nonetheless. I would be interested to hear a band who set out to be a "blackened Acidbath."

[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 

Damn, chill the beans my dude. I believe I did say "it seemed to ME" and "for/to me" several times. I meant no disrespect to the other bands, my comment was arbitrary, and meant more like, to me it seemed that way just because I happen to like Malthusian's music more than the others is all, so for ME, they led the pack of Irish DM at the time.

I actually am really into Vircolac too, prob my 2nd fav Irish DM band. & I have a similar connection as I do with the Malthusian Demo, with Vircolac's Codex Perfida, I find preferable over your other releases since.

I haven't been in the Vircolac for 5 years man, doesn't matter to me if you like them or not so no need to justify it , I just took exception to what I thought you meant in terms of your timeline, or maybe better to say I thought you were implying the other bands were sort of trying to sound like or ride Malthusian's coattails which couldnt be further from the truth as I think we all now understand.  I get your point now. I don't think any of the bands from that brief moment in time sounded remotely like each other which is why it was an interesting moment. I'm not very chill generally  by the way, ha.

I can't remember who it was put it like this, but I remember seeing a review somewhere that described how the song structures in Malthusian seemed to morph from one riff into another. Always thought that was very accurate. Particular on the full length.

Looking forward to hear this new thing being referred to in this thread. Seem intriguing.

[Grim Reality]

Would echo a lot of the sentiment here. Those initial live gigs and demo were mind-blowing. As good if not better than anything I heard from that DM scene that was bubbling worldwide at the time. I thought they should have kept the wee bit of corpsepaint myself. It was an added aesthetic you might see more in serious international bands, whereas Irish bands tend towards a low key jeans and t-shirt look.

On a sort of related point, there seemed to be plenty happening in Ireland around that time, especially gig wise, that is absent the last few years.

Between H, Invictus, Doom Days, Fart etc there were regular all day or two day gigs, and what seemed like more ordinary shows from touring bands. Granted I am well out of the loop these days so maybe its all happening and I don't know about it. A glance at the live forum here would suggest otherwise though. Obviously costs have gone up in the interim and that's probably the main problem.

Going to dig out the Malthusian demo and BTH tonight for first time in years. Always loved watching them live. Like the drummer was in charge of a chariot from hell struggling to keep 3 demented horses from careering out of control!

[Eoin McLove]

Would echo a lot of the sentiment here. Those initial live gigs and demo were mind-blowing. As good if not better than anything I heard from that DM scene that was bubbling worldwide at the time. I thought they should have kept the wee bit of corpsepaint myself. It was an added aesthetic you might see more in serious international bands, whereas Irish bands tend towards a low key jeans and t-shirt look.

On a sort of related point, there seemed to be plenty happening in Ireland around that time, especially gig wise, that is absent the last few years.

Between H, Invictus, Doom Days, Fart etc there were regular all day or two day gigs, and what seemed like more ordinary shows from touring bands. Granted I am well out of the loop these days so maybe its all happening and I don't know about it. A glance at the live forum here would suggest otherwise though. Obviously costs have gone up in the interim and that's probably the main problem.

Going to dig out the Malthusian demo and BTH tonight for first time in years. Always loved watching them live. Like the drummer was in charge of a chariot from hell struggling to keep 3 demented horses from careering out of control!

There's more truth in that last paragraph than you know!

[open face surgery]

     Incredibly accurate.