Only 11:02 minutes divided into four hymns are enough to unleash a new hope in the worldwide underground. Those nooks where you have to deeply search to keep on finding garbage, copycat bands or in this case, a new entity that will deliver you to the purest essence of Black Metal. Quantity has defeated quality, the internet’s pestilence cannot be erased, neither mankind. MALEDICTVS PESTE was formed in Santiago de Chile in 2023, the country where one of the best Metal scenes in the world has been taking place since 1985 and the development of new sounds and artistic movements can be encountered every weekend in bars or in a rehearsal room next to a street stall where “completos” are sold. MALEDICTVS PESTE released their “Demo MMXXV” on May 24, 2025, on tape via Ediciones De La Anhedonia for global distribution and by Norz Legio exclusively for Chile. The logo of MALEDICTVS PESTE has a clear visual influence in DARKTHRONE’s and ABSU’s ones, having in the anatomy of the typography some elements of the taxonomy of some insects that have spread diseases through human history. The cover art is an Italian painting from 1440 named “Il Trionfo Della Morte” and is heavily related to the concepts of their lyrics and ideology of the band. This fresco is divided into four parts, where Death enters riding a skeletal horse, firing arrows to kill characters belonging to all social levels. That includes emperors, popes, bishops, friars, poets, knights, maidens and a group of poor people, invoking Death to stop their suffering, but being ignored. This piece of art is greatly bounded to MALEDICTVS PESTE and their musical excellence, which is partitioned in four songs. The first track is a very short instrumental opus with violin and electronic elements that guides the listener to a melancholic call to the desirable Death with vocals that are feed with echoes created in a void, ‘Intro: The Calling’, is its name. ‘Eternal Self-Destruction’ is a perfect example of how Black Metal must be, delivering total hate to the lies that have been spilled and how the path that humankind has been following since its creation is the annihilation of its believes and acts. The vocals are an instrument that is guided by the magnificent blast beats and destructive double drum. The drummer is better than a machine! No remorse to the drum set that is led by some melodic and violent riffs without unnecessary narcissistic solos that as a whole creates a really cold and obscure atmosphere. The songs are short and really fast, without stops, so the listener cannot have a rest and his / her brain can be molested. ‘Fetid And Impure Death’ is the third track, where some chants tend to be more guttural and the riffs are hypnotic, like the one at 0:46 and the changes with the tom toms and rimshots in the drums creates some complex rhythm patterns that makes you imagine that the members of MALEDICTVS PESTE are not amateurs or newbies in the scene. I consider that ‘Fetid And Impure Death’ is the greatest song of “Demo MMXXV”, for the musical structure and the way the lyrics are related to unknown and fatal sickness since 1346 to contemporary times, giving a poetic structure to talk about demise and not falling into horrible clichés. ‘Ritual Of Hate And Annihilation’ made me think of how Vicotnik played drums and Aldrahn performed on DØDHEIMSGARD’s, full-length “Kronet Til Konge”. The musical influence is there and the way the singing is used in desperate and chaotic vocalization. For me, MALEDICTVS PESTE is easily one of the best bands since 2020 in the Black Metal genre. If you are into early DØDHEIMSGARD, BORKNAGAR’s debut, the first full-length of SATYRICON, ABIGOR and MANIAC BUTCHER, MALEDICTVS PESTE is a must, despite they have a Norwegian / European influence, their sound has a unique presence with great production, that usually a debut doesn’t have. “Demo MMXXV” can easily be an EP. It was recorded and mixed by Murmur of BLACK GRAIL between April and November of 2024. I think that this production will be a myth in the underground in a near future. More info at: https://maledictuspeste.bandcamp.com, edicionesdelaanhedonia@gmail.com, n6rz.n6rz.n6rz@gmail.com