Appalachian cultists, Vile Haint, have presented us with their third ritual offering, Abound with Malice. Apart of the prolific Moonlight Cypress Archetype label, Vile Haint serves as a more traditional black metal outfit, promoting ritual ambience and a southern twang that made them stand out among the underground scene. With previous releases like Ol’ Hatchie Haint and Sacrificial Baptism in Murky waters Vile Haint had pushed a harsh and raw sound, with frantic drumming, deadly riffs and haunting keys that filled the silence in-between creating a forceful wall of sound that stuck with you well after listening.
Abound with Malice, however, has taken a step in a different direction. Taking on a slower form, putting more emphasis on the synth organs, having the guitars take their time and build these twisted and dissonant psychedelic melodies. It’s a unique vibe and gives the band a different sound, almost comparing it to its counterpart, Existential Dread on the same label. While there are more frantic and fast-paced sections of this release that are reminiscent of the previous two albums, it’s much more short-lived and definitely focuses more on the ambience rather than just pure guitar play and drumming.
Abound with Malice is an interesting release to me that caught me by surprise mainly because of the influence of sound from the other releases on the label. While I know there are a lot of overlap when it comes to members of the band, the main figure head being Ryan Clackner, each band had their own unique sound and character that made them stand apart from one another. This release, however, I feel like is taking too much influence from the other releases. It sounds a little like Existential Dread as I mentioned also a little bit of Crestfallen Dusk with the heavier emphasis on the synth organs for this release. There’s also that iconic Clackner style guitar playing with the atonal and dissonant riffs that are always such a treat to listen to, but feel kinda out of place with this release. Something more fitting for the doomier Existential Dread.
All in all, this is not a bad release by any means, and certainly has a type of appeal, but it’s definitely not my favorite release coming from the Archetypes. I felt it took too much of a change from the original sound, but the experimentation is always fun to listen to and I did certainly enjoy my time with the album. It does make me curious to see what else is in store for the label, from new sounds and new approaches, hopefully the others I find are stronger than this one.