{"id":557559,"date":"2026-04-29T21:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/557559\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T21:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:16:08","slug":"in-malices-wake-the-profound-darkness-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/557559\/","title":{"rendered":"In Malice’s Wake – The Profound Darkness Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u201cHe who sees the world beyond is forever haunted.\u201d So claims the Australian death thrash unit In Malice\u2019s Wake as heard on \u201cBeyond Death\u201d from their latest record, The Profound Darkness. IMW last scourged the Earth with 2020\u2019s The Blindness of Faith, a sprawling, somewhat bloated collection of bulldozing thrash metal condemnations of religious manipulation and ignorance. With four original LPs and twenty-four years of independent musicianship under them, guitarist Leigh Bartley (Harlott), bassist Karl Watterson, drummer Mark Farrugia, and guitarist\/vocalist Shaun Farrugia have returned with The Profound Darkness. This time, IMW turn their focus from ire against religion towards rumination on death and the turmoil surrounding the uncertainty thereafter. Tackling as heavy a subject as one could ask for, can In Malice\u2019s Wake deliver us the cold terror of the grave, or is The Profound Darkness more superficial than they\u2019d like us to think?<\/p>\n

In Malice\u2019s Wake on The Profound Darkness still sling a most deathly thrash. The Profound Darkness is supercharged with beefy riffs, pummeling rhythms, and bellowing screams. Testamental groove and Power Tripping hardcore DNA bristle on The Profound Darkness, but In Malice\u2019s Wake thrash primarily under the schools of Slayer and Sepultura, encrusted with lightning-fast chromatic riffs, punishing and intricate drumming (\u201cThe Great Purifier\u201d) and wailing guitar dives (\u201cNumb to Paradise\u201d) under the singular aim of sounding as evil as possible. IMW\u2019s deeper extreme metal influences manifest in death metal riffing and vox and in the blackened tremolo leads of \u201cThe Last Song\u201d and the Dissection x Slayer \u201dThe Darkness Below Us.\u201d The only major shift from The Blindness of Faith to The Profound Darkness is in editing, as IMW\u2019s new record is over ten minutes shorter than their last through tighter songwriting. One thing\u2019s for sure: In Malice\u2019s Wake are still as hostile as ever.<\/p>\n

In Malice\u2019s Wake sounds great when they hit the right balance of technicality and immediacy. The Profound Darkness is busy, but never noodly or extravagant. Songs like \u201cUpon My Flesh\u201d and \u201cBy Tongues of Demons\u201d exercise scathing, headbangable riffcraft while fitting in a lot more notes than expected, given their lizard-brained appeal. Similarly, Mark Farrugia\u2019s sneaks just enough flare into his drumming while keeping to the pocket, dropping some nimble kicks and cymbals over \u201cBeyond Death\u201d and \u201cThe Great Purifier\u201d amidst his blistering assault on the senses. Small touches make a big difference on The Profound Darkness, most notably the multitudes of brief guitar solos littering songs like \u201cBeyond Death,\u201d \u201cThe Darkness Below Us,\u201d and \u201cThe Great Purifier.\u201d IMW can shred like crazy but choose to cut themselves short, which keeps The Profound Darkness lean and focused, and the listener wanting more, which there will be. The Profound Darkness is an expertly written and performed album by musicians who know to put the needs of their songs first and when and where to let it rip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Profound Darkness is less bloated than The Blindness of Faith, but In Malice\u2019s Wake lost a little something in the process of slimming down. \u201cThe Last Song\u201d and \u201cAway from the Light\u201d are as tight and fiery as IMW\u2019s best stuff, but lack the breathing room to grow and wrap all of their riffs and ideas into complete packages. The Profound Darkness\u2019 mix also lacks breathing room, and though it\u2019s not totally brickwalled, it takes its toll on the ears by the end. Further, these songs aren\u2019t as memorable as The Blindness of Faith. I\u2019ve spent far more time with The Profound Darkness and yet can\u2019t recall much from it, as well as the Sepultura-worshiping title track, the mind-freakery of \u201cTo Die as One,\u201d or the tribalistic pulse of \u201cRitual Slaughter.\u201d There is variety here, particularly in the blackened opulence of closer \u201cThe Darkness Below Us,\u201d but I wish In Malice\u2019s Wake had taken just a few more eccentric paths in uncovering The Profound Darkness.<\/p>\n

However, whatever problems I see in The Profound Darkness can\u2019t detract from its sheer electricity. Every riff hits, every rasp is bilious, and In Malice\u2019s Wake never let up to give you a chance at getting bored. Old fans won\u2019t find much to complain about here. Fans of thrash and\/or death yet unfamiliar with IMW may find themselves caught up in the Wake. That promise of a haunting\u2014of coming into gnosis of the paralyzing apprehension of death\u2014is sometimes brushed against. Not many groups even get that, so give The Profound Darkness a shot if your evening plans include mortal dread anywhere.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating: Very Good
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps MP3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: inmaliceswake.com<\/a> | inmaliceswake.bandcamp<\/a> | facebook.com\/inmaliceswake<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: May 1st, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHe who sees the world beyond is forever haunted.\u201d So claims the Australian death thrash unit In Malice\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[47816,19439,40441,9986,108182,96,191543,191544,191545,128,191546,263,129,13420,95264,64076,65237,191547,20383,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-557559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-47816","tag-3-5","tag-australian-metal","tag-death-metal","tag-dissection","tag-entertainment","tag-harlott","tag-in-malices-wake","tag-may26","tag-music","tag-power-trip","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-self-release","tag-sepultura","tag-slayer","tag-testament","tag-the-profound-darkness","tag-thrash-metal","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}