LOS MALES DEL MUNDO (trans: the evils of the world) is a Black Metal band out of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Though they hail from South America, their musical roots borrow from a much more northern tradition - a.k.a. the 90's Black Metal - and their lyrics are influenced by somber European philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Emil Cioran and A. Schopenhauer. Dany Tee (DOWNFALL OF NUR) and Cristian Yans (EROICA) formed in 2016 as a duo, releasing a self-titled EP in 2020. More recently, with the support of guest bassist Nikita Kamprad (DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT), they have produced their debut full-length album, "Descent Towards Death," to be released on February 26, 2021.

The band has stated the album "is an invitation to a conceptual journey, dragging you into the darkest and remotest places of the human soul. It reflects an internal battle between aggressive and furious passages blended with dense and introspective landscapes full of melancholic melodies." It's a thoughtful album that, although with enough painscape to constitute it as full-on Black Metal, also embodies subtleties of Atmospheric.

On one hand, there's an ambient vibe to the album that flows through the fluidity of the compositions and the gorgeous guitar solos. The intro and outro of Spanish spoken-word narratives also add a touch sophistication. Or maybe that's just my American tendency to be impressed by foreign languages. On the other hand, all of this is offset by the shrieking vocals, tremolo riffs, and drumming that is brutally melodic. Dany Tee doesn't render your typical blast beat montage. The drum work in "Falling to Nothing," for example, is stunning.

The five tracks span forty-one minutes. These are immersive songs that invoke a certain pensiveness, you might call it a nihilistic introspection, but they urge you attend to their grim address. This isn't stuff you listen to while drinking beer; this is absinthe music. As far as lyrics go, I was only able to get my hands on one track, but they proved both complex and insightful. From "The Silent Agony": "We strive into the need to freeze / at least for a moment, the constant flow / of what has been and what will be after us."

It's hard to pick favorite tracks out of the five since they're all fairly solid and even keeled. I'll go with "Falling into Nothing," the first and longest track on the album; "Eternal Circle of Vain Efforts" as it has the most contours and curious texture; and "The Heavy Burden" which, true to its name, comes on with the pace of Doom and the weight of lead. The final solo on this track, btw, is soul wrenching.

Altogether, "Descent Towards Death" is a slow-burn, Black Metal siege. It's patient and methodical in its approach and complete in its destruction. In the end, nothing is left standing and you're left feeling complicit to something profoundly dark like when you walk into a room after something otherworldly has just passed through.