Artist: Malicious Torment
Country: USA / Greece
Label: Ancient Spirit Terror / Spreading The Pest Productions
Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP
Year: 2025
Malicious Torment is a relatively new band that sprung out of the minds of KK and BL, two individuals who live the USA and Greece respectively, making this band an international affair. I haven’t been able to find out whether KK was in previous bands before, but BL is mainly known for being the voice of Necrochakal and previously of Drakon Ho Megas. On a musical level, Malicious Torment has much more in common with Necrochakal’s raging Black/Thrash Metal than with Drakon Ho Megas though…
In well under twenty minutes ‘Realms Of The Occult’ offers something to people who think that Cruel Force’s recent return was just a little too much on the Heavy Metal side of the spectrum. KK, responsible for all instruments, definitely knows her craft and classics. Like a true caveman she cranks out a whole barrage of memorable riffs and she pounds the drums like there’s no tomorrow. I particularly love the sharper edges to the guitars and the slight punky upbeat connotation to the majority of the offered material. That is especially evident in the closing track, ‘Insulter Of Jesus Christ’, a cover song by Damnation, an almost forgotten band that featured two very prominent members of the Swedish Extreme Metal scene who are or were active in bands like Dismember, Unanimated, Entombed, Satyricon, Carbonized, Regurgitate, General Surgery and many more. This particular track already has a very distinct punky vibe, but Malicious Torment’s take on this track is just a tad faster, allowing the song to be even more punkier. BL (Babis Lainis, also known as Bestial Invocator) is the icing on the cake, with his rabid barking the music gets this extra ferociousness – the same way Carnivore does for Cruel Force.
Original it might not be, but was abundantly clearly never the intention anyway. This is the ultimate fodder for those who like their Black Thrashing Metal honest, authentic and well-performed. Those into bands like Diabolic Night, Hellish Crossfire, Nocturnal, Desaster, Deathhammer and the aforementioned Cruel Force are in for a treat, but also fans of the more upbeat kind of Death Metal like Bastard Priest or Bombs Of Hades could consider giving this a shot.
