Review: Nader Sadek’s Fiery New EP The Malefic: Chapter III
Busting out of the gates like a possessed demon horse running a quarter-mile race, Nader Sadek’s relentless new EP The Malefic: Chapter III has all the fury and technique you’d ever need in such a tidy little package. For the most part, this is passionately evil and punishing death metal that will punch a hole in your heart and still take you out for breakfast in the morning.
In case you didn’t know, the band is the brainchild of an Egyptian-American artist of the same name who has worked as a stage artist for Mayhem and Sunn O))) in the past. Nader Sadek (the guy) doesn’t actually play in Nader Sadek (the band) himself, but he is its conceptual director and songwriter. Nader Sadek (the band) was developed by mysterious artist Nader Sadek (the guy) in a “desire to bring the hazards of petroleum usage to the public eye” (which was communicated aplenty via the band’s 2011 debut album In The Flesh).
Who are the musicians in this “curated” band? In the past Nader Sadek (the band) included members/former members of Krallice, Castavet, Morbid Angel, Behold the Arctopus, Vader, Behemoth and more. For this album, Nader Sadek (the guy) enlisted another all-star cast of characters that includes members/former members of Cryptopsy, Mayhem, Decapitated, Murder Construct, Cattle Decapitation, Death and others. Apparently Nader Sadek (the guy) made a lot of killer connections in his travels and the dude has certainly put together a tight ship.
What does the music of Nader Sadek (the band) sound like? On the whole the material is rich, dense, delightfully technical (yet almost never wanky) dark and powerful death metal. Upon first listen, three out of four of these songs appear to be pure unadulterated heaviness (the other one, final track “Descent”, offers a much more deliberately paced groove that coexists with a bit more melodic singing); the guitars and vocals are both sonically oppressive for maximum impact. There are distinguishable melodic lines aplenty lurking in the background as well. I wouldn’t necessarily call them “hooks,” per se, but there is definitely an implied sense of harmonic and melodic mastery throughout the songwriting, which we suppose was all charted out by Nader Sadek (the guy) for Nader Sadek (the band) to read and play along with.
As to be expected in a unit comprised of hand-picked players, the musicianship is top-notch. Admittedly, at times the drums sound triggered to hell, but let’s just call that a tool that doesn’t affect one iota the power and undeniable skill of Flo Mounier from Cryptopsy – this guy is a tr00 beast and I’d welcome the opportunity to watch him murder his drumkit live. The guitars riff insanely hard, and it’s all to set the stage for Cattle Decapitation/Murder Construct’s Travis Ryan’s seriously br00tal vocals. It sounds like the devil is singing for this band.
At four tracks only, The Malefic: Chapter III is short but sweet – definitely leaves you wanting to hear more from Nader Sadek (the band and the guy).
Nader Sadek’s The Malefic: Chapter III is out now as a free CD insert in issues of Decibel (#122), Terrorizer (#254), and Legacy (#94). Check out the song “Deformation by Incision” here. Digital downloads of the EP will be available soon.
