Cost: 50¢
When buying this, I definitely expected something that was either very gothic-influenced or an overly experimental sort of BM. Thankfully, it's very straightforward contemporary Norwegian black metal. They were compared to Khold a lot (even by their own label PR, it seems), and while they aren't soundalikes, it's not an unfair general comparison. Not my preferred stuff, but this was well worth the 50 cents. I should add that the vocalist is female--since the vocals are done well, it may seem weird to mention it at all. However, female vox in extreme metal are typically so sub-par, immediately recognizable, and falsely praised in the name of political correctness, that I need to emphasize that here they don't detract from the music.
Ironically, despite the music being very stereotypical BM in almost every aspect, the band tried to differentiate themselves from the black metal scene--for example, the corny statement in the booklet that "MALSAIN performs Claustrophobic Metal exclusively." The lyrics touch on horror/nightmare themes, but they (the English ones at least) are too scant and simple to be effective psychological horror. I could see the lyrics working better in conjunction with music like Woods of Infinity (consider the opening lines of the title track--A group of children playing outside/In my van I offered them a ride--hahaha), but there's nothing particularly weird or creepy about the music.
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