Style: Progressive metal, avant-garde metal, melodic black metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Akercocke, Dødheimsgard, Imperial Triumphant
Country: Germany
Release date: 29 May 2026

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I’m normally a big fan of ambition in creativity. Those huge, wild swings. The ‘everything and the kitchen sink’ approach. Doing shit because you want to, not necessarily because it represents the most optimal path. There’s a version of Neon Genesis Evangelion somewhere, for example, that’s had all the philosophical fat and religious symbology trimmed to create a more concise – and discernible – narrative, but that would miss the mark on part of what makes that franchise so enthralling. Of course, that’s not to say that simply running off pure artistic chaos is the key to creating great, or even at a minimum interesting art. You still need glue strong enough to keep all those zany ideas together to form a cohesive whole, after all.

German avant-garde black metal collective Maladie certainly have a penchant for throwing things at the wall. On latest offering The Dance of Tragedies, they toss metalcore, black metal, weeknight sitcom vibes, punk, melodeath, and motes of symphonic metal into a mad little ballroom and demand they dance. There’s saxophone and flute and fourth-wall breaking, too, in case the room wasn’t crowded enough already with ideas. The Dance of Tragedies marks my first soiree with the long-running outfit. Do Maladie have the right glue to keep this event from falling apart? Or will there be tragedy on the dance floor?

Things start off relatively fine on “Vortex of Monotony”, with a catchy, if thin, melodic riff and some early sax exposure sparking off against a backdrop of tremolo-picked guitars. However, the goblin-y harshes which rear their head throughout the track are suitably unpleasant, phlegmy and lacking in clarity. The vocals do find some favor towards the end, at least, buoyed on the familiar waves of black metal blast beats and soaring trems. There’s even some rapping halfway through the song, unexplainable yet mercifully brief. Follow-up “Behind All Suns” affects an almost Full House-esque tone with Hauke Peters jubilant sax – certainly not an approach I would have expected from a band who have labeled themselves “plague metal.” Much like the preceding track, “Behind All Suns” is built around a central riff, equally as thin and sounding eerily similar to the point I found myself toggling between the two tracks. I’ll admit though, that the riffage, both here and across the album, is deceptively catchy; more than a few times I found myself nodding along, foot tapping to the accompanying drum beat.

Generally speaking, Maladie prove themselves adept at transitioning between ideas without sacrificing song cohesion, whether that’s the piano-led bridge of “Behind All Suns”; the punk ferocity of “Too Old to Die” racing towards a deathcore-ian episode complete with guttural brees and broos, mutating again into some kind of dancey club-stomper; or sudden symphonic rock turn of “The Unknowable”, to name but an immediate few. Maladie’s commitment to anchoring songs to specific motifs ensure that, no matter how many permutations a track may move through, they always either return to, or continue to implement that defining riff. Songs are executed with the sort of panache and confidence expected from a veteran act, and Dance of Tragedies has plenty of little moments that are undeniably enjoyable.

What a shame, then, that Maladie choose to consistently undermine their efforts by deciding to put tongue firmly through collective cheek with all sorts of meme-y, Deadpool-ian shenanigans – like the frontman having an argument with the instrumentation on “The Dance of Tragedies”, or the fact that oftentimes the vocals come across as acts of parody. And, despite how much I appreciate the sax appeal of Dance of Tragedies, Peters’ contributions also lead to some of the album’s cornier moments: see the chicken coop dance off on the title track, the weird synth-dance flatulence of “Embrace Our Curse”, or the aforementioned 90s sitcom energy of “Behind All Suns” for all manner of disruptive moments. Granted, not every album needs to be mired in seriousness to be worthwhile, but there is a point where an album’s merits threaten to be overtaken by the interminable dual-threat of quirk and irony.

Dance of Tragedies feels steeped in both, an artistic effort glittering with fun moments that is nonetheless crippled by said fun. The result is an effervescent amalgamation that looks appetizing (the cover art is pretty cool) and hints at something tasty, but ultimately the experience is one of bloat¹ and empty calories – not a great combination when you’re looking to tear it up on the dance floor.

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Recommended tracks: On Inaccessible Paths Part II, Behind All Suns
You may also like: The Biscuit Merchant, Hail Spirit Noir, Amiensus, Pensees Nocturnes
Final verdict: 4/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Apostasy Records

Maladie is:
– Björn Köppler (guitars, percussion, keyboards, piano, cello, organ, bass, drums, flute)
– Déhà (keyboards, piano, cello, vocals)
– Alexander Wenz (vocals)
– Hauke Peters (saxophone)
– Alex Spalvieri (guitars)
– Wiebke EB (backing vocals)

1.  The album is over an hour along, and you will feel it by the end. ↩︎