DISGUISED MALIGNANCE, despite their moniker, has no qualms about laying their shit right out there. Back in September 2023 this Finnish quintet released their debut album, “Entering the Gateways,” via Prosthetic Records. Death Metal is what these lads do. Death Metal and nothing else. Just sloppy bass, relentless blast beats, and down-tuned thrashy riffs accented with brutal vocals. Okay, they do get sideways on a few tracks, but they are fairly interesting diversions. Oh, and they’re smart too. The first four lines of their first track, “Gates to Nihil,” had me pulling up my online dictionary. And it’s not just their vocabulary—I mean anyone can hit shift-f7 and pull up a thesaurus—it’s the actual message of their lyrics. Shit that’ll make you think. Not happy thoughts, this is Death Metal after all, but it may cause you to ponder the finer points of isolation, entropy, and disengagement.

“Entering the Gateways” comprises eight tracks and has a run time of 34 minutes. It’s not quite back to basics, but still fairly raw. The production values are excellent and thoroughly to speed, so don’t expect analog. These are tracks you’ll listen to over and over again just to focus in on different elements—and the separation is distinct enough that you can really do that. There’s the bass coming up from underneath, the riffs cutting right through center with a twin guitar attack, the drums hammering down from the top, and vocals stalking around from channel to channel. Yeah, so give a listen with some quality over-the-ear headphones with this one, you’ll appreciate the trip.

Lots of great tracks on this album. Most are aggressive and urgent, but there are also some very cool subtle twists. “Disengagement Into Eternity” for instance has some intriguing movements, including a bass-led, nasty jazz, cosmic fuck-all at the 2:30 mark—like KING CRIMSON gone over to Death. Then there’s “The Fading Path of Existence” which kicks off with something like throat singing, but out of Lovecraft. Definitely evokes the image from the album cover, which btw just might be Cthulhu’s sphincter. I also really enjoyed “Confined” with its bass breaks and squealing lead outbursts. “Beyond (Entering the Gateways)” is a solid closer with chainsaw riffs (recalling the vibes of the opener: “Gates to Nihil”) and a long fade that just makes you want more.

Just when I think I’m over Death Metal, a band like DISGUISED MALIGNANCE comes along and makes me reevaluate my assumptions. So it took me four months after the release date to stumble on this cold artifact, so what? At least I made it. DISGUISED MALIGNANCE. “Entering the Gateways.” See what awaits you.