Ahh. Hand-drawn cover art. It's nice to see in the current waves of CGI, AI, and any other acronym for design you can think of. German death metal trio Archaic Thorn have released "Malicious Spears," their second full-length album, via High Roller Records back at the end of October. Since then, they've widened their audience with occult lyrical themes, a bare-bones attitude, and some straight up death metal - no subgenres, no niches, just pedal-to-the-metal, well, metal. It's a vast genre - can Archaic Thorn wade through the sea of artists and join the greats?

A duo of formidable singles were digitally released to warn listeners what will eventually escape from Archaic Thorn's recording sessions. In August, "Massgrave Transformation" was released. The instrumentals are tight, and mixed a bit tinny, but that may be my Airpods acting up like usual. The vocals sound full of dread, as a mix of guttural yet raspy lyrics dance between blast-beats and distorted riffs. The second single, "Conquering Spirits," was released a month later, and follows in the brutal footsteps as the first single. Lightning-fast drum rolls and blistering lead guitars treat you like the single cover: blood eagled with a spear through your back. Almost like the whole album deals with spears in a malicious way. The vocals stay the same, and I would go as far to say that they sound a bit depressing; it's the vocalist's (M.F.) final minutes with his voice, and he chose to use it in the studio. After chanting "conquering spirits" a couple times, some spooks sound effects fade in and out, and some commanding and clean vocals summon SOMETHING. The track wraps up this dynamic duality of singles, and they worked - I want more.

The full LP opens with the longest track, "Lord Of Tombs." With the song reaching a couple seconds over seven minutes, Archaic Thorn have some time to fill. The track opens slower, as I thought it would, with a plodding, simple riff that evolves to much more complicated instrumental work. The momentum is pleasantly kept through the song's duration, with some symphonic-y keys (?) with echo that sounds straight-up Transylvanian. "A Blessed Ground Remains" is up next. A song filled with technical skill I'm not sure I've heard yet. The track's got some groove, too. Combined with length, technical ability, and all-around feel, "A Blessed Ground Remains" remains as a highlight of the project. After the second-released single, the album is "Advancing Without Mercy." I'll take this time to circle back to the vocals, of which I think I've gotten used to. They are a bit awkward at first, as they dance on the line of many different vocal styles, but I now understand how it fits in with their music. This track is just more of the last, which isn't a con, trust me.

The first-released single opens the second chunk of the album, and the next piece of new material is "Angel Of Havaz." Not sure who/what/where Havaz is, but the song about it is great. The riffs are complicated, but not distracting. The drums do their job as well, pounding away and not letting up for anything. This and the closing self-titled song, "Malicious Spears," share around the same length, and like the opener, it gets used wisely. My mind may be wandering with the last couple, but they seem a bit more dissonant. Maybe it's the cursed metal fatigue. Rough and tough prowess shines throughout here, and the entire album

"Malicious Spears" was a brutal and primitive effort from Archaic Thorn. I simply wish I could hear the bass more, as it sounds mixed out for a majority of the album. Not a huge deal, though. A big deal for me was that I greatly appreciated the variety of song structure, length, and feel, as when it comes to death metal, there's usually a straight path most people follow. Archaic Thorn follows the path, but stops and gazes at the scenery of variety. A good work.