Once you have gazed your eyes on the picture of the band on the inner album sleeve of Malediction’s new album IX Sorcerers, you will be quite surprised to find out that when you listen to the songs on this album, they don’t sound half as demonic and scary as the picture suggests. It’s far to fluffy and nice to be satanic black metal, and the fact that the semi clean production, makes the vocals all the more, let’s say…… listener friendly, makes IX Sorcerers a really disappointing album, and really does make the spawns of Satan sound like my little pony!

Production wise a black metal album is supposed to sound like a dyeing wasp flying round in a jar, but IX Sorcerers sounds like filth, and not filthy in a dirty, vile, disgusting way. Filthy as in that it sounds like it has been recorded in some million dollar recording studio in Hollywood, California. It’s such a shame because if tracks sounded like the revving of a the murder weapon in the Texas chainsaw massacre, then songs like ‘Children of the Black Sun’, ‘The Supreme Order’ and ‘Hatred Phenomenon’ would sound like classic old school black metal tracks, and would be truly amazing.

Unfortunately as well, Malediction haven’t quite grasped the understanding that vocals in a black metal band are supposed to sound like your wild bear, being impaled by a spear while having an asthma attack, and on every track on IX Sorcerers we are faced with quite clean sounding vocals where every word can be clearly heard. We want harsh, satanic, pig squeals, not something that sounds like a Bring me the Horizon B-Side. It doesn’t hook the listener what so ever, making listening to this album worse than shoving pins through your ear drums.

Not all is bad though about Malediction. Sure musically they may sound as washed out as a fly on a dog turd drowning in a puddle, but Malediction have got the look, and look like what would happen if Abbath from Immortal ate Varg Vikernes. Just a pity their music sounds like some well recorded hardcore album. The riffs have too much melody to them, the vocals sound like Susan Boyle chocking on poison and the production sounds like Malediction are signed to EMI records. It is a real shock if you ever get this album to listen to!

It’s a real shame when a black metal album turns out to be shocking, because let’s face it, black metal is one of the most raw, heavy and damn right metal sound there is, and unfortunately, Malediction are making black metal sound like JLS. IX Sorcerers is a disgrace to black metal… In fact, any type of metal! [3/10]