Track Premiere: Malguist – ‘Apex to Ashes’

Malguist is a new black metal band, formed by the duo of The Malguist and The Mongrel. With little information given about the band’s members or origin, we’re left with just the music of their first release, I. A two-track effort, Decibel is officially streaming “Apex to Ashes,” the first song on I, for early listening.

Weighing in just over 10 minutes long, Malguist make the most of their time on “Apex to Ashes,” utilizing both mid-paced, staccato riffs and long chunks of high-tempo blast beats and tremolo picking throughout the song. The vocals are delivered in snarls, screams and even a delivery resembling something of a chant. The variety keeps the listener on their toes without being jarring.

When asked about the song’s background, Malguist provided the following statement:

“Homo Sapiens: An Illusory Apex

“Life on Earth could have been long lasting for Homo Sapiens, had they been capable of acting as caretaker to themselves: creating a positive environment for development and growth within healthy behavioral boundaries. Perhaps they could have arrested the brutal and destructive sides of their nature in favor of a more nurturing and custodial role. A pragmatic approach with basic rights and responsibilities, and a healthy relationship with life and death.

“As anyone that looked was surely able to see, this was not the case…

“Thousands of years of praying and tithing didn’t bring them any closer to a unified vision. Quite the opposite. The churches’ crass congregational exploitation transubstantiated existential fear into money and power at the cost of real spiritual growth. It was methodical predation.  No one was saved.

“As one generation begat another, genetic code wouldn’t stop producing the sociopathy once necessary to carry their species through the wild. Conversely, those with anti-social tendencies worked to create hierarchical social systems under which the multitudes toiled and suffered to varying degrees. Time only sharpened the tools of subjugation…

“In critical moments (from A-Bombs to A-I), they failed to separate ‘can we’ from ‘should we’ in their decision making. Instead of acting as their own guardians, they chose to act as their own God: An intangible, otherworldly force, divorced from finite existence. It was as if the finality of death was unfathomable to some of them. Cultivation of mechanized life as humanity slid from its apex foretold looming annihilation, even if many were unable to see it coming…

“Eventually as a matter of course, a sufficient combination of factors wiped Homo Sapiens from Earth. As A-I came to thrive in their stead, no one was left to wonder whether this new form of life was a creation, or just a mutation?”

I is out digitally and on cassette via Knife Hits Records on June 14.