Review by Alex on March 30, 2021.

Newcomers Abjection debut with their first recording under the Gods Ov War umbrella titled Malignant Deviation. Their style is predominantly death metal, however, there are elements of death/black metal or what some term as war metal active within their music. However, their formula is not that chaotic and is more along the likes of New Zealand's Heresiarch. It's a short one but vicious and relentless with minimal intervals of deceleration to recuperate and replenish before resuming the rampage.

Coated in a claustrophobic haze of sonic entropy, the tracks on Malignant Deviation cast clouds of crushing and stifling frequencies over the listener. 'Illusion of Sleep' is practically the prototype of the attitude exhibited in every other song on the record. However, that does not mean that the songs are devoid of their own characteristics, if you think that, you'd be greatly wrong. To locate and extract the DNA of each entry you will have to do some work and venture beyond the barrage of blast beats and consuming vocals. And just when you've met the core, the fissure unveiled before your ears are a flurry of interconnected Dead Congregation, Heresiarch, and Deiquisitor influenced connotations.

Take the 23 minutes step by step, Malignant Deviation allows you to do so despite being such an intense album. Its suffocating aura slowly sweeps down on you and consumes your attention. Like being shackled to your vices, the possibility of escape dwindles with each moment spent and even if you do manage to break the tumultuous trance you still end up going back for more. Not sure Abjection needs to deliver anything else for a while after this record, despite its brevity, much ground is covered and scampered through on this obelisk of undoing.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10