I don’t know what they’re putting in the water down in Santiago, Chile, but whatever it is, I want some. The extreme metal scene in South America is currently thriving and the most bloodthirsty (and downright delinquent) are undoubtedly Onslaught Kommand. Since forming in 2022 they’ve already hit us with a demo, split release and EP, and now they get a chance to really show off the tools of their trade with their debut album, the aptly-titled Malignancy.
Featuring 14 tracks over 32 minutes, this record doesn’t overstay its welcome; you feel that there’s been some judicial pruning going on here and everything has been distilled into its purest form. Not one second is wasted with the band’s energies focused into a red hot laser beam, and it is certainly an approach that suits this brutal brand of death metal that they peddle. Subsequently, there’s no time for fancy introductions, the band arrive with little warning and opening shot ‘Elite Hunting Gore’ is all the more powerful for it’s sudden appearance. This is the sound of the most depraved serial killer on the rampage; imagine being strapped to a chair and skinned alive by Ed Gein and you’d have something on a par with the Onslaught Kommand experience.
The twin guitar assault of Necromancer and Behemot is akin to a circular saw cutting through bone as blood splatters the walls, the rhythm section swings like Leatherface on a rampage and the vocals seemingly recorded by a microphone lowered into the deepest reaches of hell. The result is a brutal, bombastic listen and one not recommended for the faint-hearted. Yet, those who like their death metal blood splattered will find a spiritual home here. Songs such as ‘Pervert Goat Kommand’ are as good as their titles suggest and offer little in the way of redemption, and while many of the established death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse and Autopsy come off as a little cartoonish, you get the feeling that Onslaught Kommand are totally serious and that adds a layer of danger to the listening experience.
That Malignancy sounds so accomplished should really come as no surprise as the band played together in the black/crusty Weapons Conquest project, yet Onslaught Kommand feels like a fresh start and the vitality they bring to this album suggests they’re going to be around for a while.
- Malignancy is released via Godz Ov War Productions and is available now (from here).
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Track List:
- Elite Hunting Gore
- Pissrot Humiliation
- Third World Stoning
- Becoming A Gut Pile
- Born To Be Deformed
- Satanic Storming
- Backyard Of Corpses
- Pervert Goat Kommand
- Morbid Warfare
- Inside The Mutilator’s Bunker
- What’s In The Abyss
- Carbonized At The Lynching Tree
- One Trench – Several Dead Bodies
- Axis Of The Unholy Power
