ARCHITECURAL GENOCIDE are from Houston, Texas, USA and have been making their brand of Brutal Death Metal since 2017. It has resulted in  a demo ("Demo 2018") in 2018, a debut album ("Cordyceptic Anthropomorph") in 2020 and since 16 January 2026 their second album, which they named "Malignant Cognition". The difference between the debut and this album is that there has been a line-up change. According to the EPK  guitarist Jonathan Blake has left the band, but when I see the information on the site of the Metal Archives the band should have a new guitarist in Cheb Baker. I'll stick with the info as received by band and PR company.

I understand why Comatose Music has signed these guys, as this racket can only be construed as pure Brutal Death Metal. It therefore lacks any form of subtlety, but that is to be expected. And I know that "Malignant Cognition" is recognised as a full-length album but I need you as a listener of this kind of music, but most of all buyer of physical or digital formats that the length of the whole experience is only 23:43 minutes. That is quite short, but there are times when that is just enough. For me this is one of those times. That is mainly due to the sound of the snare drum during the whole of "Malignant Cognition", as I find it a bloody annoying one. I can easily hack the almost guttural grunts and the simple and straight forward riffs and drum rhythms, but the sound of the snare just pisses me off immensely.

I feel that if ARCHITECURAL GENOCIDE were to adopt a more favourable sound, I would enjoy the whole experience that is "Malignant Cognition" a whole lot more. And even though Brutal Death Metal isn't on my radar as one of my favourite musical genres, I can hear, understand and enjoy what a band is doing. And I do get it when a band wants a bit of an underground sound, especially with this genre, but the songs still need to be distinguishable and therefore ready to be dissected in a fitting way. Thankfully the music as well as the sound on "Malignant Cognition" is good enough to allow that to happen, otherwise the rating would have been less favourable. But let me put my personal thoughts aside for my conclusion, as I feel that the afficionados of Brutal Death Metal in general, and the fans of ARCHITECURAL GENOCIDE  in particular will be very happy with "Malignant Cognition".