For all that’s to be found throughout the underground, it’s mandatory to understand that not everything is for everyone. I like to think that my taste in all that metal has to offer is quite inclusive, yet it’s in my subjectivity that a few styles have fallen through the cracks for numerous reasons. When it comes to the particularly brutal reaches of death metal that begin to transmute into slam, I have to admit that there just hasn’t been much that has caught my attention and kept my ears interested in my nearly twelve years of doing these reviews. That being said, there are exceptions and I’m always ready for something to come along and defy my expectations. While far from the greatest example of the sound I’ve come before, it’s with their debut EP that Miscreant of Malfeasance shows promise.

When dealing with this particular genre throughout all that the underground has to offer, I can’t help but feel like a lot of slam and brutal death metal bands do little more than almost literally throwing whatever they have at the wall, see what sticks even if only barely, and running with it whatever it may be. Very rarely does it work. You need to have a good idea of what you’re going for, and even then, if you play your cards right, there’s plenty of room for madness and chaos in such a way that brutal death metal can work really well with in the right hands. Challenging my expectations and offering something that’s as unforgiving in its mind-splitting intensity, the hands of Miscreant of Malfeasance could very well be the right set given what they’ve delivered throughout “Phonk Slam”. A ridiculous EP in concept but taken quite seriously from beginning to end, this debut avoids a fate of being immediate discarding for being unimaginative and uncompelling. Rather, through great use of electronic effects and a solid understanding of what this sound can be when it’s given the time and care that it properly deserves, “Phonk Slam” thrives in its own insanity to make this extraterrestrial excursion towards a hyper violent extinction. Having more melody that I could have possibly expected and knowing precisely when to pull back rather than have the gas floored for a one-dimensional sound, it’s here that Miscreant of Malfeasance makes its entrance a bit of an anomaly in this corner of extreme metal. Of course, there’s so much room for growth and exploration for what it can bring to the table, but it’s already in just five tracks across a 14-minute runtime that this act stands out for me as something that can be an entity of real substance even if there’s still an element of true chaos that has a part to play throughout the creation.

It’s been far too long since a creation of this sort has caught my attention for longer than a few minutes, and while I cannot sit here and say that I love what’s been done here, I cannot deny what Miscreant of Malfeasance has managed to bring to the table in such a way that has more than earned a raised eyebrow in interest. “Phonk Slam” could have easily been just another creation that can be skipped right over, but it’s through just a little bit of vision in a sound that’s dying for more that this EP lays forth the foundations for a band to really make a name for itself.

LISTEN to “Phonk Slam” on Bandcamp here.

FOLLOW Miscreant of Malfeasance on Instagram here.