I have listened to W’tch Brew/Jystr Fool by Malum Veneficus about half a dozen times now and, if I’m to be honest, I don’t know what to make of it or how to describe it to you, dear reader. All I know is that I like it, quite a lot.

There are only two tracks on offer here, clocking in at five minutes and change, but not a single second is wasted as Malum Veneficus sets about introducing those who haven’t yet been caught in one of his spells – myself included – to the utter brilliant insanity that is their mind. Musically, it’s almost impossible to pin Malum Veneficus down. Yes, it’s black metal, but at the same time, no it’s not. At least, not in the way that most think when they hear the phrase.

There are so many other styles of music mixed into the cauldron that W’tch Brew/Jystr Fool is a fine blend of black metal, folk, and dungeon synth that falls just on the right side of mad genius without teetering into the abyss of what in the fuck was that? Both tracks on offer tick all the correct boxes that you would expect them to. Driving drums, check. Gutteral vocals, check. Blast beats at 1,000 mph, triple check. But what Malum Veneficus does here that is so eyebrow raising is that they make W’tch Brew/Jystr Fool, dare I say it, catchy.

I know, I know, it’s a crazy concept, but for all it’s threatening and heavy overtoned, and it’s thunderous black metal atmosphere, W’tch Brew/Jystr Fool has a sense of songwriting about it that you don’t usually always find within the genre. It isn’t just darkness for darkness sake, or an inaccessible wall of noise that you have to fight your way through to find the true heart of the piece, instead it has all the hallmarks of traditional black metal, but these two tracks show that Malum Veneficus isn’t someone who is going to let themselves be restricted by what the black metal sound is supposed to be and is willing to take the song in the direction it needs to go, swallowing and spitting out as many different influences as they can alongnthe way, to take their songs to their natural conclusion. And I, for one, admire the hell out of that.

You can get W’tch Brew/Jystr Fool by Malum Veneficus over on their Bandcamp page, and if you’re looking for black metal that is outside the box, then I really hope you do.