Malefic Throne // The Conquering Darkness // Album Review

Floridian death metal legends Malefic Throne are finally unleashing their debut album on humanity.

Featuring three of the most prolific pioneers within the death metal genre, guitarist Gene Palubicki (Angelcorpse, Perdition Temple), vocalist & bassist Steve Tucker (Morbid Angel) and drummer John Longstreth (Origin, Hate Eternal, ex-Angelcorpse).

The group’s first effort, the self-titled “Malefic Throne” EP, gave us a preview of what hell the band were creating. Harsh, hard-hitting death metal with a blackened black metal edge. With hints & the feel of the members’ original projects, but adding so much more brutality that hasn’t been heard from them yet.

“The Conquering Darkness” is the band’s full-length, 45 minutes of the darkest pure death metal the underground has heard for the last decade.

The album’s opener, “Blasphémait Desecration”, is a slab of pure aggression. No fancy intros, straight to the meat of the band’s DNA. Palubucki’s precise, technical guitar riffs grab you straight away. His tone is somehow cut like a scalpel, but also hits you like a hammer at the same time.

Tucker’s vocal delivery is the most venomous I’ve heard in some time. His low, guttural style on the album really lends it weight. Where Gene’s riffs are angler & cutting, Tucker’s low register gives the band a great sound & style.

The chorus hook on this track grabs you straight away. Palubucki’s riffing might be controlled chaos but what he has that many doesn’t is an overarching sense of groove & allows the riffs to breathe, be digestible for the listener. Which makes every change in tempo, groove or little slice of a riff become quickly memorable.

Like a human metronome “The Voice of my Ghost” is just one example of the perfect drummer that is John Longstreth. He might be one of the most prolific drummers within the death metal genre, but with his technical ability also comes his great attention to rhythms that hook you & blow you away at the same time. His double kick work on this track is truly phenomenal.

The overall drum sound too is superb, thanks to being recorded, mixed and mastered at Menegroth The Thousand Caves (Gorguts, Origin, Atheist) with Colin Marston. This raw yet well-balanced drum recording gives the album great weight in its heavier sounds, while remaining sharp & hard-hitting where it needs to be.

My standout track on the album “Divine Tragedy” is a heavy as fuck, balls out attack on the listener. Its open riff is like a shotgun blast to the chest & its relentless driving feel doesn’t let go. It has a furious sound & features my favourite solo lead sections by  Palubucki.

It’s the chorus section that’s this great groove that is led by Tucker’s double-tracked vocal hook that gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it.
This track does not relent one bit. Longstreth’s drumming on this track is some of the most hinged on the album yet. The poor guy doesn’t get a breather on this one!

Saving the most epic till last, “Forged in Stone” might have my favourite riff of the year as its headbanger opens a few minutes.
The band strips things back and gives us a sludgey but still focused track that is a pure delight. The merging of tremolo riffs & double kicks on this is a tremendous little flourish, I loved every time it came back around. Also Tucker gets to play around with his vocals a little more on this track. Really moving between that low guttural roar, swampy wrenches, & his signature black-metal-style yells. This track is truly fantastic & worth buying just for this masterpiece alone.

Now it would be easy to say that the Malefic Throne has the DNA of Morbid Angel, Angelcorpse & Perdition Temple. With that being true, just because of the members involved, Malefic Throne feels like way more than that. This album feels like the darkest, depraved & spiteful version of all three bands. As the whole album feels like the only thing that can stand up to the members’ main projects, the quality is there in droves.

The Conquering Darkness is a genuinely remarkable, goliath-sized album. This showcases these legends’ deeper, darker & more sinister side, creating an album that might take the title of most unhinged & brutal of 2025.

Review: Joseph Mitchell

The Conquering Darkness is out via Agonia Records on 28th November 2025

Tracklisting:
1. Blasphémait Desecration
2. The Voice of my Ghost
3. Athirst for Dissonance
4. Born of Plague
5. Divine Tragedy
6. Carnage of the Forgotten
7. When our Shadows Align
8. Forged in Stone

Formats:
– Jewelcase CD
– Tape
– Black LP
– Red LP
– Picture disc
– Splatter LP
– Digital.
– T-shirt (two designs)

Line-up:
Gene Palubucki – guitars
Steve Tucker – vocals and bass
John Longstreth – drums