These orthodox black metallers follow in the footsteps of bands like Deathspell Omega, Ondskapt and Watain, with all of the dissonance, minor scales and chords, and hate you’d expect from such a band. The instrumental and vocal performances are all solid: S creates a dense atmosphere of misanthropy through his riffs, which is further supported by the pronounced bass; J handles the percussion, and provides competent if unsurprising blasts and the occasional fill; E’s vocal performance might be the weakest instrumental showing on Maledictum, but his lower, hoarse rasps are perfectly suitable if somewhat generic.

Yes, Flagellant has some qualified musicians, and they even try to switch things up by varying the pacing and including a large amount of slowed down sections. The only problem is that these slower parts are often pretty boring. Oftentimes, awesome, frantic riffs and blast beats are disrupted by unnecessary breaks. They don’t even work in the way that provides a brief respite from the punishing black metal. No, they’re more like commercials interrupting a high action car chase during a movie – unneeded and annoying. Admittedly, this isn’t a fatal flaw or anything, but it is annoying to see Flagellant shoot themselves in the foot like this.

Other than the slower sections, Maledictum is a solid album. The instrumental work and vocals work to make for some irresistible headbanging moments like almost all of “Necromantic Revelations.” Sure, it’s irritating to see the band do something so avoidable, but the slow sections aren’t prevalent enough to drag the album into mediocrity. Overall, Maledictum is a fine slab of orthodox black metal. It’s not something that will floor you, but it’s worth a listen if you’re a fan of bands like Deathspell Omega, Ondskapt and Watain.