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 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Malamorte - Hell For All [Rockshots Records - 2019]

Malamorte is one of the projects of Italian musician Alex Nunziati,  also of Lord Vampyr, Cain, Nailed God, Shadowsreign and Sepolcrum. The project started in 2014 with an EP titled The Fall Of Babylon, which was black metal with heavy elements. In 2016, the first full-length album, titled Devilish Illusions, was released, made in the spirit of the debut EP. The next album, Satan Goes to Heaven to Destroy the Kingdom of God, released in 2017, showed a change of style towards Occult / Doom Heavy Metal.

Moving onto Hell For All- their third full-length album which was released in 2019 by Italian label Rockshots Records. The album was released as a CD, & is available for order on the label's website.

The album cover is a professionally painted picture of a blasphemous feast on the ruins of a Christian temple. In the foreground, we see a long table, around which horned demons seduce half-naked men and women. In the background of the table stands a stone altar, behind which stands the Devil, holding in his hand a goblet of blood and extending his second arm forward. Above his head is a terracotta-coloured Malamorte logo, made in a rigid heavy / thrash style based on the gothic font. Above the central letter M, there is an image of an inverted pyramid with an eye inside. On the altar hangs a torn red cloth on which is written the name of the album Hell For All. It is worth noting that the Malamorte logo is very different from the one used on previous albums. It has become more classic Heavy metal like- the previous one was is more suitable for Black metal-focused.


The album lasts forty-three and a half minutes and consists of ten tracks, the first of which is a 50-second intro entitled “Advent”. We hear the sound of battle trumpets against the distant cries of a crowd of people. Then it turns into something that is rather difficult to describe. The most accurate association is the trumpeting sounds of the elephants played backwards.


The second track is "Antichrist". And from the very first riff, it becomes clear that Malamorte has radically changed the style. This track is a fairly intense Thrash metal in the spirit of Kreator since the Coma Of Souls. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the previous album Malamorte, and I can not say how much the vocal of Alex Nunziati has changed on this album. In this track, it seemed to be well suited for such intense Thrash metal. The vocals are of a rather high timbre, in some moments reminiscent of Dave Mustaine from Megadeth.


The third track is "Warriors Of Hell",  & to my surprise, turned out away from thrash metal. I would say that it is made in the style of Gamma Ray. Melodious and tough Power metal, with characteristic vocal chants and melodies. However, it seemed to me that the vocals are slightly weak for such high notes that are planned in the vocal part.

The fourth track, "Holy Or Unholy", again changes the style of things. Now in the direction of heavy metal, or rather the version played by King Diamond around album Abigail. Even guitar solos reminded me of the work of Michael Denner and Andy La Roque. I'd say that the vocals here are well suited to this style, I even heard a familiar voice, King Diamond, when he does not sing in falsetto. However, in the chorus, the vocal line seemed to me more like Glenn Danzig.

The fifth track is called "Mother". It begins with an acoustic guitar intro, in the background of which you can hear the voice of a child calling for a mother. Then come the guitars and vocals. And I heard the typical King Diamond style from the time of Conspiracy, even the timbre of the vocal made me doubt that it was not King himself singing. The melodic and vocal line of the chorus again reminded me of Danzig.

The sixth track is the title track of the album "Hell For All". This time it is again intense Thrash metal in the spirit of Kreator with melodic Heavy metal elements. The vocal line on this track seemed to me slightly ill-conceived.

The seventh track is called "Son". This brings us back again to King Diamond, and more specifically to Mercyful Fate & their final album 9. I hate to say this , but this  virtually a copy of the Mercyful Fate style and King Diamond’s vocal line of those times.

The eighth track, titled "The Worshipers OF Evil", continues a theme close to Mercyful Fate, slightly diluting it with Thrash elements. The ninth track "Satan's Slave" begins with Gregorian chants. And again we hear the same style as in the two previous tracks. But, perhaps, with a big bias to the music of King Diamond’s album The Graveyard.

The final track called God Is Nothing was made in the same style. The vocal work here seemed to be one of the best on the album. Despite the apparent imitation of King Diamond, it is not perceived as a copy.

Despite the excellent, crystal clear and balanced sound and high professionalism of the musician hiding under the initials SK, who performed all the instrumental parts on this album (Alex Nunziati dealt only with vocals), the album left a somewhat ambiguous impression. For me, as a big fan of King Diamond, it was nice to hear a familiar style, given the rather long silence from Mr Diamond. However, Hell For All is perceived as an attempt to copy what has already been successfully played. King Diamond and Mercyful Fate style have always been original, recognizable and very different from other bands playing in this genre. Alex Nunziata's vocals do not always match the chosen style. Despite the good vocal abilities, vocals sometimes sound weak and uncertain. In the style chosen for this album, vocals play a crucial role. But, Alex, in my opinion, is not very successfully coping with such a complex vocal line.

So, the album is pretty good but secondary. If I wanted to hear something in the style of Mercyful Fate and King Diamond, then I would, first of all, turn to the original source and the band Denner / Shermann.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Sergey Pakhomov
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