Malady X is the maiden voyage for Bavarian act Nothgard on Metal Blade Records, their fourth album overall but first in a multi-album deal with the legendary metal label. The bands brand of epic, cinematic melodic death metal is ever present, led by band leader, vocalist, lead guitarist, and keyboard player Dom R. Crey, and he is joined here by guitarist Skaahl, bassist Nico Kolja, and drummer Felix Indra. Malady X contains 13 new tracks, each one littered with blazing guitar work, symphonic keyboards, ragged growls, and speed metal rhythms. Fans of early Children of Bodom or Arch Enemy will no doubt love the shredding guitars and dramatic keys on rippers like "Shades of War", "Guardians of Sanity", "Devil Will Know" and the engaging title track, but it's the technical, thrashy barnburners such as "Fall of an Empire" or the majestic, crushing, and progressive "Herald of Death" that impress the most with their big, bad, bombastic sound. The two CD bonus tracks "Eye for an Eye" and "Ninja" are also quite good, the latter of course by the band Europe and given a melodic death metal flair here by Nothgard.
If you are in the mood for some thrashy, symphonic, progressive, and melodic death metal, you can feel pretty confident in putting Malady X on your immediate wish list and getting maximum enjoyment out of it.
Track Listing
- Voyage to Decay (Intro) 1:31
- Malady X 4:41
- Shades of War 4:16
- Guardians of Sanity 3:42
- Epitaph 3:59
- Deamonium I 5:04
- Serpent Hollow 4:45
- Devil Will Know 5:02
- Fall of an Empire 4:13
- Herald of Death 4:56
- Black Horizon (Instrumental) 4:32
- Eye for an Eye (Bonus Track) 4:50
- Ninja (Bonus Track) 3:50